COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHT OF THE CHILD CONSIDERS REPORT FROM LUXEMBOURG

HR/CRC/98/32
2 June 1998

The Committee on the Right of the Child this morning began consideration of the report of Luxembourg on measures taken by that country to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The delegation of Luxembourg stated that a very positive economic and social environment in the country was conducive to creating a generally very favourable situation for children and their families. However, in Luxembourg, as in other European countries, the 'family culture was passing through a crisis'. Therapy and reception centres were openly confronted with the terrible scourge of sexual exploitation of children and young people. Many young people did not shy away from violent behaviour. Moreover, despite considerable measures aimed at prevention, many youth were consuming illicit drugs and the consumption of artificial substances, such as ecstasy, seemed to be increasing.

Since the ratification of the Convention in 1993, the appropriate public authorities and non-governmental organizations working with children had prepared awareness-raising and training campaigns in the field of drug prevention, the delegation said. It is led by Mr. Paul Duhr, Deputy Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the United Nations at Geneva, and also comprises Mr. Mill Majerus and Ms. Sylvie Andrich-Duval of the Ministry for the Family, and Mr. Jos Bewer of the Ministry for Youth.

The committee will continue its consideration of the report of Luxembourg this afternoon at 3 p.m.

Report of Luxembourg

The report of Luxembourg (document CRC/C/41/Add.2) provides a historical introduction to the promotion of the rights of the child in the country. It gives a detailed article-by-article review of how Luxembourg implements the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It states that the age of majority is set at 18 years. There is compulsory schooling for children until the age of 15. It is forbidden to employ children under 15 years of age in work of any nature except in technical or vocational schools and in assistance in the household. It is forbidden to employ young people under the age of 18. Males under the age of 18 and females under the age of 16 are not permitted to enter into a marriage contract. Any indecent assault on a child under the age of 16 will be punished by one to five years in prison.

The report says that the Act of 13 April 1979 established the principle of equal rights for legitimate and illegitimate children, except for children born of incestuous relationships. A child that is not born of a marriage is considered illegitimate. In Luxembourg law, freedom of expression is established in article 24 of the Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech in all matters and freedom of the press and prohibits censorship. In order to promote freedom of expression among young people, practically all secondary schools currently publish a newspaper produced exclusively by pupils and specifically intended to publicize young people's opinions.

Presentation of the Report of Luxembourg

MILL MAJERUS of the Ministry for the Family of Luxembourg stated that, under favourable economic and social conditions, the country was able to create a generally very positive environment for children and their families. A large majority of families lived in very good housing conditions. In a multi-cultural context, Luxembourg had developed a very efficient school system, based upon the tri-lingual background of students and aimed at facilitating their access to higher education in neighbouring countries. During the last 20 years, the public authorities had redesigned urban concepts to develop towns and cities which were better adapted to the specific needs of families, children and old persons. Despite increasing numbers of immigrants, Luxembourg had
no record of open racism or xenophobia. For more than three decades, special governmental efforts had been carried out in favour of handicapped children and their families. Conditions of detention and placement of children had also been considerably improved during the last 30 years.

On the other hand, Mr. Majerus said Luxembourg shared preoccupations of other European countries in the field of the rights of the child. Thus, the culture of the family was passing thorough a crisis. More than one third of families were breaking up and new types of family life had emerged such as one-parent families. The failure of the parent couple had considerable negative effects on the child. For the past decade, placement and therapy centres were more and more exposed to the horrible scourge of sexual exploitation of children and young people. In the absence of statistical findings in the country itself, data collected in neighbouring countries, which could also be applicable in Luxembourg, showed that 10 to 15 per cent of children became, at least once in their lifetime,
victims of sexual abuse. In Luxembourg, as in neighbouring countries, numerous young people resorted to violent behaviour. Quite often, violence appeared in the context of toxicomania. Despite considerable efforts in the field of prevention, the consumption of illicit drugs was widespread among young people. The consumption of artificial substances such as ecstasy also appeared to be increasing. Studies presented in Luxembourg however showed that abuse of alcohol, tobacco and medicine represented a higher risk - at least in means of quantity. At present, Luxembourg had neither a prison for young people nor a psychiatric youth hospital and the Luxembourg
detention centre had to accommodate more and more juvenile delinquents.

Mr. Majerus said the Luxembourg Government gave priority to the bill on the promotion of the rights of the child and the social protection of children which was now being examined by Parliament. The Government welcomed and encouraged initiatives by non-governmental organizations and supported a national NGO conference on the rights of the child. The Ministry of Justice had established a working group to adapt the criminal law to the new situation with regard to sexual abuse of children. The construction of a security centre for young people figured among the first priorities of the Government. The report by Luxembourg to the Committee itself had had a very interesting multiplying effect since more than 60 professionals and 125 children and young persons between 6 to
18 had been associated with its drafting.

Consideration of the Report

Evaluating the report by Luxembourg, Committee members found that the document was in line with the provisions but that, in certain aspects, it did not follow the Committee's approach. It was a very specific report which however lacked balance. Thus, the chapter on general principles lacked details. Although comprehensive and supported by statistics, the information was very often just factual without any profound analysis. It was also noted that the report's original version had a list of names of children attached to the names of the authors. While some NGOs were also listed among the authors, no information was given on their precise contribution. The Committee would also like to hear more on the press conference organised at the launch of the report.

Experts stated that since the ratification of the Convention, four years ago, little or nothing had been done to harmonize national legislation with the principles of the Convention. They would like to be informed on the difficulties encountered in this matter. In addition , they asked why Luxembourg had reservations on the Convention, particularly with respect to children born out of wedlock.

In view of the favourable economic situation of Luxembourg, some Committee members asked whether the country would think of increasing its official development assistance to meet the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent.

Responding to the questions by the Committee members, the delegation of Luxembourg stated that with respect to its reservations, Luxembourg had acted in conformity with the law. 'The legislative texture was an organic material' and the delegation did not rule out that the reservations would be withdrawn in the future. At present, the reservations did not hinder the application of the Convention in Luxembourg. In case of conflict with regards to the interpretation of laws, the Constitutional Court would decide. Contrary to other countries, official development assistance from Luxembourg was going directly to developing countries and was not reinvested in industries in Luxembourg.

With regards to remarks on formal aspects of the report, the delegation stated that comments made by children had not been translated and they had in several instances been more critical than those by the authors. The report had been freely distributed. While a large number of NGOs participated in social policies of Luxembourg, the delegation remarked that NGOs were hesitant to allow public authorities to interfere with their activities. Some of them accepted to cooperate in the drafting of the report but wished to remain critical in their position with regard to the document as a whole.

With regard to the follow-up of the Stockholm World Congress against sexual exploitation of children, the delegation affirmed that Luxembourg was particularly sensitive about its recommendations as the country was very much touched by the 'Dutroux Affair' unfolding in Belgium. This affair led Luxembourg to reinforce cooperation with the police of neighbouring countries. It was true that the possession of paedophile films or videos was not punishable in Luxembourg., but a working group had been created within the Ministry of Justice to prepare a selective reform of the criminal law. Its work was expected to be concluded in September 1998.

Turning to the dissemination of the Convention , the delegation informed the Committee that, in 1985, a leaflet 'Youth: your Rights and Duties' had been published by the Government and had been revised in 1994 by the Youth Information Service on legal and social information. Another publication on youth participation was being prepared. The Ministry for Youth had produced a migrant exhibition on youth participation.

Several measures had been put in place to disseminate the Convention. In cooperation with a well-known cartoonist, the Ministry for the Family published a poster which illustrates, in seven pictures, the fundamental principles of the Convention.