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COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONSIDERS SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF AUSTRIA
14 January 2005
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Committee on the
Rights of the Child
14 January 2005
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today considered the second periodic report of Austria on that country’s efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Austria also presented its initial report under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
Introducing the reports was Herbert Haupt, Federal Minister of Social Affairs and Generations of Austria, who said that many players in his country continued to implement the provisions of the Convention in order to make Austria a child-friendly country. A number of measures had been taken in the fields of health, education and social affairs with the view to uphold the rights of the child.
Mr. Haupt said that the low birth rate in the country had prompted different regions to compete with each other by providing better conditions for families and children. Some regions were also attracting families by creating a framework of child and family friendly provisions, he said.
In preliminary remarks, Committee Expert Luigi Citarella, who served as country Rapporteur to the reports of Austria, said the Committee was aware of the high commitment of Austria to implement the provisions of the Convention and to improve the conditions of children. He said that in its final conclusions, the Committee would once again raise the problem of Austria's reservation to the Convention and would ask for its withdrawal, although it had not affected the rights of the child. Alleged cases of discrimination and xenophobic acts should be faced and preventive measures should be designed to avoid their occurrence. The Committee would also express concern on the problem of coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the rights of the child at the level of the Länders.
Other Committee Experts contributed to the debate by raising questions pertaining to the juvenile justice system, refugee and migrant children, sexual exploitation of children, and trafficking in human beings, among other things.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Austria towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 28 January.
The delegation of Austria was made up of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence, and the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations Office in Geneva.
As one of the 192 States parties to the Convention, Austria is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty. A 20-person delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Monday, 17 January, it is scheduled to take up the second periodic report of Belize (CRC/C/65/Add.29).
Report of Austria
The second periodic report of Austria, contained in document CRC/C/83/Add.8, describes Austrian legislation as it relates to the rights of the child. It also focuses on measures closely related to the concluding observations of the Committee on the initial report of Austria and to the measures implemented from 1996 to 2002, as well as changes in national, regional and local legislation and practice. The suggestions reflected in the concluding observations were implemented in the Parent-Child Relation Amendment Act in the spirit of the Convention. The act strengthens the legal position of adolescents and young people by lowering the age of majority from 19 to 18. It also enhances consideration of their wishes in the context of custody matters and extends rights to file applications and legal capacity in proceedings of minors over 14.
The report describes new measures of family support, adaptations of legislation applying to immigrant and refugee children, and changes in juvenile justice, among other things, in which the recommendations of the Committee were borne in mind. It also contains important measures and activities of the federal State and the Länder relevant to the rights of the child.
Austria has made all possible efforts to secure and foster the value of children in society by many dispositions, based on the recommendations of the Committee, the report says. Those responsible are aware of the fact that the public sector and policymakers are constantly called upon to continue pursuing this goal for the benefit of children in the country.
Austria also presented its initial report on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Austria ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on 1 February 2002 and it entered into force in respect of Austria on 12 February 2002. The Austrian National Defence Act was amended prior to the ratification of the protocol to explicitly prohibit the direct participation of persons below 18 years of age in direct hostilities.
Presentation of Report
HERBERT HAUPT, Federal Minister of Social Affairs and Generations of Austria, said that many players in Austria continued to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to make it a child friendly country. A number of measures had been taken in the fields of health, education and social affairs with the view to uphold the rights of the child.
Mr. Haupt said the Federal State was engaged in designing basic legislation with regard to child rights while the states were responsible for the execution of these laws. The states were also responsible for the promotion of youth protection, kindergarten and school care. A convention was ongoing in Austria to review the Constitution and to update it with the evolving modern world. The authorities also continued to put in place policies reflecting the requirements of citizens.
The low birth rate in the country had prompted different regions to compete with each other by providing better conditions for families and children, Mr. Haupt said. Some regions were also attracting families by creating a framework of child and family friendly provisions. They also invited families to settle in their regions for a better life for them and their children.
The Austrian Constitution banned any form of discrimination, the Minister said. The principle of non-discrimination was also promoted in all states as was the implementation of the Convention.
Mr. Haupt said the 1999 law on parent and child relations had adequately reacted to the recommendations of the Committee to the State party’s initial report concerning matters of custody. The law had made custody not only a right but also a duty. New measures on family development had also been taken, putting the child at the centre. Austria had ratified both Optional Protocols to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on child prostitution, child pornography, and sale of children. The Government continued to strengthen the guarantees for children to enjoy their rights.
Questions by Committee Experts
LUIGI CITARELLA, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, noted with great appreciation that a large number of new laws and regulations had been enacted in the past few years, underlining the continuous commitment of the Government to progress in realizing the fullest implementation of children’ rights. The Committee took note that the Convention had a high status in the whole system of Austrian legislation.
Mr. Citarella said that he was not able to understand the grounds of Austria’s reservations on the Convention. The apparent contradiction between the Convention and the European Convention with reference to articles 12 and 15 of the Convention would have induced all the countries that had ratified the European Convention to make the same reservations. But in reality it was not so. He asked the delegation to provide more information on the risks envisaged in accepting in their integral text articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
One problem that deserved greater attention was the collection of statistical data, he said. No official statistics were available on the number of minor refugees or asylum seekers, the budgetary expenses for children with disabilities, and on the number of adoptions.
Mr. Citarella said that the Committee had already expressed its serious concerns over the implementation of the Convention in states that had forms of decentralized institutions. The basis of those concerns was that the division of competences and mandates through different bodies, at different levels, might imply that the international obligations entered to by the State did not receive sufficient attention on the side of regional or local institutions.
On the subject of family reunification, Mr. Citarella said although new family-friendly regulations had been enacted, it appeared that family reunification of foreigners in Austria was subject to the immigration quota system.
SAISUREE CHUTIKUL, the Committee Expert who also served as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, recalled that the Committee had in 1999 recommended the need for coordination in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in Austria. Some of the recommendations had not really been implemented, and no comprehensive coordination and monitoring structure had been established. The coordination was carried out occasionally – for preparation of State reports, for example. Due to the decentralized system, there were loopholes among Länders in quality implementation of the Convention. What measures were envisaged in that regard so that all provided children with the same rights?
Other members of the Committee also raised a number of questions pertaining to the use of participation rights by children; the dissemination of the Convention and the general knowledge of children about the treaty; fighting violence against children; the persistence of child poverty; corporal punishment and the use of non-violent forms of punishment; the measures against discrimination and xenophobia; the situation of children born out of wedlock; the reservations made on certain articles of the Convention; the lack of juvenile justice; the placement of juveniles in adult prisons; the protection of children from unsuitable information on the Internet; trafficking in human beings; the problems and the measures taken against obesity and suicide; the situation of unaccompanied child asylum seekers; the duration of detention of young people before deportation; the nature of offences by children; prohibition of sex tourism abroad; absence of social rights for children; and inadequacy of social workers in schools, among other things.
Response of Austrian Delegation
The process of revising the country’s Constitution was underway and the public debate on it continued, the delegation said. The rights of the child would be anchored in the Constitution as a priority.
The age of voting at the municipal level had been brought down to 16 years, the delegation said. Except for three states, all the others had adopted laws fixing the voting age at 16. Children, including young persons up to the age of 25, could be elected to the youth advisory council in each municipality.
The quota system for family reunification would be maintained, the delegation said. The backlog in that regard had now been worked off. Austria continued to receive economic refugees, which had prompted the application of the quota system.
Austria had generously contributed to childcare causes in many countries, the delegation said. It had also increased its assistance to international cooperation. Regrettably, Austria did not reach the ultimate goal of 0.7 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). In its recent three-year international cooperation programme, Austria aimed at focusing on childcare, particularly for those suffering from armed conflicts. It had recently donated 50 million Euros to the victims of the tsunami in southeastern Asia.
The delegation said that child poverty was measured regularly. Steps had been taken to evaluate how the allowances allocated to families and children had improved their livelihoods.
It was in the best interest of the child that joint custody was granted and parents usually agreed to such arrangements, the delegation said. If that was not the case, the right to visitation by one of the parents was guaranteed.
The Austrian judiciary gave high priority to the protection of the child. Corporal punishment was illegal, the delegation said. The banning of corporal punishment was incorporated in the national plan of action, and a campaign of awareness raising against its use had been carried out.
The age of sexual consent was 14 years, the delegation said. Sexual acts between a child of inadequate maturity below 16 years and an adult was considered a criminal offence. The age of protection of a child against pornographic exploitation had been raised to 18 years.
Juveniles and adults served their prison terms in separate departments of general penitentiaries, the delegation said. Since juvenile courts had been closed, ordinary courts handled cases of young law offenders. The maximum prison sentence for adolescents could not exceed 15 years. Although in some prisons there had been some overcrowding, the centres where adolescents were imprisoned did not have this problem.
The delegation noted that a special provision was introduced into the Criminal Code prohibiting trafficking in children. The criminal offence was aggravated if the motive was for the sexual exploitation or organ extraction of the victim.
Asked about the situation of female genital mutilation, the delegation said the Government had, since 2001, introduced specific provisions prohibiting female genital mutilation and related activities. Such activities were not allowed in the country and were criminally punished. In Austria, not many cases had taken place in the past. The delegation said it would take home the suggestion of penalizing acts of female genital mutilation that had taken place outside Austria with regard to residents or citizens.
Much had been done to integrate children with disabilities, the delegation said. Since 2003, individuals because of the incompatibility of certain vocational training might obtain partial qualification. In some categories of vocation training additional hours were provided to allow children with disabilities to cope with the training.
Gifted children were provided special education in various schools, the delegation said. About 600 teachers had undergone training in special education of such children at the European Council for Higher Abilities.
All schools were no-smoking zones, and the Government had introduced increasing restrictions for tobacco products, the delegation said.
Austria had positively regulated the problem of child labour with only five violations detected last year, the delegation said. In order to reinforce its prohibition of child labour, the State had ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on the restriction of child labour under 12 years. The Convention prohibited children from being employed even as actors before the age of 12.
Optional Protocol to Convention on Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
LUIGI CITARELLA, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, said that the report indicated that the Austrian armed forces did not operate schools while in reality, there was a school in Vienna for students from age 14 which provided a higher secondary education with a specialization in natural sciences. It was like a military-led boarding school.
He asked if special education for recovery was provided for refugees and migrant children entering the country who had previously been exposed to armed conflict.
Other Experts also raised questions on whether children of 17 years were protected from being directly involved in hostilities in the field while they were actually deployed for other purposes.
In response, the delegation said that the Austrian military did not operate a military school. The school mentioned by the Rapporteur was a civilian school run by the Ministry of Education. It was a traditional school dating back a long time.
Austria was one of the few countries where there were no military courts or prisons. There were no special regulations for the military. The same civilian jurisdiction was applied to military offenders. In the absence of military justice, conscientious objectors were handled by the civilian rules and regulations.
There was a possibility that a young person of 17 years could volunteer to join the military service. To join the military, the individuals should be 18 years. Parental consent was necessary for children to volunteer to serve in the army before the age of 18.
Austria was a neutral country and the army was not sent to areas of direct hostilities abroad. The Austrian army had not been involved in hostilities in the country for many decades.
Preliminary Remarks
LUIGI CITARELLA, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the reports of Austria, thanked the members of the delegation for the additional information they had provided to the Committee during the dialogue. The Committee was aware of the high commitment of Austria in its implementation of the provisions of the Convention and its efforts to improve the conditions of children. He said that in its final conclusions, the Committee would once again raise the problem of Austria's reservation and would ask for its withdrawal, although it had not affected the rights of the child. It would also recommend, among other things, that all professionals have a good knowledge of the Convention. The Government should make available data on children. Alleged cases of discrimination and xenophobic acts should be faced and preventive measures should be designed to avoid their occurrence. The Committee would also express concern on the problem of coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the rights of the child at the Länders level. The dissolution of the juvenile courts without any similar substitution was also a matter of concern.
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Rights of the Child
14 January 2005
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today considered the second periodic report of Austria on that country’s efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Austria also presented its initial report under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
Introducing the reports was Herbert Haupt, Federal Minister of Social Affairs and Generations of Austria, who said that many players in his country continued to implement the provisions of the Convention in order to make Austria a child-friendly country. A number of measures had been taken in the fields of health, education and social affairs with the view to uphold the rights of the child.
Mr. Haupt said that the low birth rate in the country had prompted different regions to compete with each other by providing better conditions for families and children. Some regions were also attracting families by creating a framework of child and family friendly provisions, he said.
In preliminary remarks, Committee Expert Luigi Citarella, who served as country Rapporteur to the reports of Austria, said the Committee was aware of the high commitment of Austria to implement the provisions of the Convention and to improve the conditions of children. He said that in its final conclusions, the Committee would once again raise the problem of Austria's reservation to the Convention and would ask for its withdrawal, although it had not affected the rights of the child. Alleged cases of discrimination and xenophobic acts should be faced and preventive measures should be designed to avoid their occurrence. The Committee would also express concern on the problem of coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the rights of the child at the level of the Länders.
Other Committee Experts contributed to the debate by raising questions pertaining to the juvenile justice system, refugee and migrant children, sexual exploitation of children, and trafficking in human beings, among other things.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Austria towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 28 January.
The delegation of Austria was made up of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence, and the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations Office in Geneva.
As one of the 192 States parties to the Convention, Austria is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty. A 20-person delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Monday, 17 January, it is scheduled to take up the second periodic report of Belize (CRC/C/65/Add.29).
Report of Austria
The second periodic report of Austria, contained in document CRC/C/83/Add.8, describes Austrian legislation as it relates to the rights of the child. It also focuses on measures closely related to the concluding observations of the Committee on the initial report of Austria and to the measures implemented from 1996 to 2002, as well as changes in national, regional and local legislation and practice. The suggestions reflected in the concluding observations were implemented in the Parent-Child Relation Amendment Act in the spirit of the Convention. The act strengthens the legal position of adolescents and young people by lowering the age of majority from 19 to 18. It also enhances consideration of their wishes in the context of custody matters and extends rights to file applications and legal capacity in proceedings of minors over 14.
The report describes new measures of family support, adaptations of legislation applying to immigrant and refugee children, and changes in juvenile justice, among other things, in which the recommendations of the Committee were borne in mind. It also contains important measures and activities of the federal State and the Länder relevant to the rights of the child.
Austria has made all possible efforts to secure and foster the value of children in society by many dispositions, based on the recommendations of the Committee, the report says. Those responsible are aware of the fact that the public sector and policymakers are constantly called upon to continue pursuing this goal for the benefit of children in the country.
Austria also presented its initial report on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Austria ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on 1 February 2002 and it entered into force in respect of Austria on 12 February 2002. The Austrian National Defence Act was amended prior to the ratification of the protocol to explicitly prohibit the direct participation of persons below 18 years of age in direct hostilities.
Presentation of Report
HERBERT HAUPT, Federal Minister of Social Affairs and Generations of Austria, said that many players in Austria continued to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to make it a child friendly country. A number of measures had been taken in the fields of health, education and social affairs with the view to uphold the rights of the child.
Mr. Haupt said the Federal State was engaged in designing basic legislation with regard to child rights while the states were responsible for the execution of these laws. The states were also responsible for the promotion of youth protection, kindergarten and school care. A convention was ongoing in Austria to review the Constitution and to update it with the evolving modern world. The authorities also continued to put in place policies reflecting the requirements of citizens.
The low birth rate in the country had prompted different regions to compete with each other by providing better conditions for families and children, Mr. Haupt said. Some regions were also attracting families by creating a framework of child and family friendly provisions. They also invited families to settle in their regions for a better life for them and their children.
The Austrian Constitution banned any form of discrimination, the Minister said. The principle of non-discrimination was also promoted in all states as was the implementation of the Convention.
Mr. Haupt said the 1999 law on parent and child relations had adequately reacted to the recommendations of the Committee to the State party’s initial report concerning matters of custody. The law had made custody not only a right but also a duty. New measures on family development had also been taken, putting the child at the centre. Austria had ratified both Optional Protocols to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on child prostitution, child pornography, and sale of children. The Government continued to strengthen the guarantees for children to enjoy their rights.
Questions by Committee Experts
LUIGI CITARELLA, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, noted with great appreciation that a large number of new laws and regulations had been enacted in the past few years, underlining the continuous commitment of the Government to progress in realizing the fullest implementation of children’ rights. The Committee took note that the Convention had a high status in the whole system of Austrian legislation.
Mr. Citarella said that he was not able to understand the grounds of Austria’s reservations on the Convention. The apparent contradiction between the Convention and the European Convention with reference to articles 12 and 15 of the Convention would have induced all the countries that had ratified the European Convention to make the same reservations. But in reality it was not so. He asked the delegation to provide more information on the risks envisaged in accepting in their integral text articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
One problem that deserved greater attention was the collection of statistical data, he said. No official statistics were available on the number of minor refugees or asylum seekers, the budgetary expenses for children with disabilities, and on the number of adoptions.
Mr. Citarella said that the Committee had already expressed its serious concerns over the implementation of the Convention in states that had forms of decentralized institutions. The basis of those concerns was that the division of competences and mandates through different bodies, at different levels, might imply that the international obligations entered to by the State did not receive sufficient attention on the side of regional or local institutions.
On the subject of family reunification, Mr. Citarella said although new family-friendly regulations had been enacted, it appeared that family reunification of foreigners in Austria was subject to the immigration quota system.
SAISUREE CHUTIKUL, the Committee Expert who also served as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, recalled that the Committee had in 1999 recommended the need for coordination in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in Austria. Some of the recommendations had not really been implemented, and no comprehensive coordination and monitoring structure had been established. The coordination was carried out occasionally – for preparation of State reports, for example. Due to the decentralized system, there were loopholes among Länders in quality implementation of the Convention. What measures were envisaged in that regard so that all provided children with the same rights?
Other members of the Committee also raised a number of questions pertaining to the use of participation rights by children; the dissemination of the Convention and the general knowledge of children about the treaty; fighting violence against children; the persistence of child poverty; corporal punishment and the use of non-violent forms of punishment; the measures against discrimination and xenophobia; the situation of children born out of wedlock; the reservations made on certain articles of the Convention; the lack of juvenile justice; the placement of juveniles in adult prisons; the protection of children from unsuitable information on the Internet; trafficking in human beings; the problems and the measures taken against obesity and suicide; the situation of unaccompanied child asylum seekers; the duration of detention of young people before deportation; the nature of offences by children; prohibition of sex tourism abroad; absence of social rights for children; and inadequacy of social workers in schools, among other things.
Response of Austrian Delegation
The process of revising the country’s Constitution was underway and the public debate on it continued, the delegation said. The rights of the child would be anchored in the Constitution as a priority.
The age of voting at the municipal level had been brought down to 16 years, the delegation said. Except for three states, all the others had adopted laws fixing the voting age at 16. Children, including young persons up to the age of 25, could be elected to the youth advisory council in each municipality.
The quota system for family reunification would be maintained, the delegation said. The backlog in that regard had now been worked off. Austria continued to receive economic refugees, which had prompted the application of the quota system.
Austria had generously contributed to childcare causes in many countries, the delegation said. It had also increased its assistance to international cooperation. Regrettably, Austria did not reach the ultimate goal of 0.7 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). In its recent three-year international cooperation programme, Austria aimed at focusing on childcare, particularly for those suffering from armed conflicts. It had recently donated 50 million Euros to the victims of the tsunami in southeastern Asia.
The delegation said that child poverty was measured regularly. Steps had been taken to evaluate how the allowances allocated to families and children had improved their livelihoods.
It was in the best interest of the child that joint custody was granted and parents usually agreed to such arrangements, the delegation said. If that was not the case, the right to visitation by one of the parents was guaranteed.
The Austrian judiciary gave high priority to the protection of the child. Corporal punishment was illegal, the delegation said. The banning of corporal punishment was incorporated in the national plan of action, and a campaign of awareness raising against its use had been carried out.
The age of sexual consent was 14 years, the delegation said. Sexual acts between a child of inadequate maturity below 16 years and an adult was considered a criminal offence. The age of protection of a child against pornographic exploitation had been raised to 18 years.
Juveniles and adults served their prison terms in separate departments of general penitentiaries, the delegation said. Since juvenile courts had been closed, ordinary courts handled cases of young law offenders. The maximum prison sentence for adolescents could not exceed 15 years. Although in some prisons there had been some overcrowding, the centres where adolescents were imprisoned did not have this problem.
The delegation noted that a special provision was introduced into the Criminal Code prohibiting trafficking in children. The criminal offence was aggravated if the motive was for the sexual exploitation or organ extraction of the victim.
Asked about the situation of female genital mutilation, the delegation said the Government had, since 2001, introduced specific provisions prohibiting female genital mutilation and related activities. Such activities were not allowed in the country and were criminally punished. In Austria, not many cases had taken place in the past. The delegation said it would take home the suggestion of penalizing acts of female genital mutilation that had taken place outside Austria with regard to residents or citizens.
Much had been done to integrate children with disabilities, the delegation said. Since 2003, individuals because of the incompatibility of certain vocational training might obtain partial qualification. In some categories of vocation training additional hours were provided to allow children with disabilities to cope with the training.
Gifted children were provided special education in various schools, the delegation said. About 600 teachers had undergone training in special education of such children at the European Council for Higher Abilities.
All schools were no-smoking zones, and the Government had introduced increasing restrictions for tobacco products, the delegation said.
Austria had positively regulated the problem of child labour with only five violations detected last year, the delegation said. In order to reinforce its prohibition of child labour, the State had ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on the restriction of child labour under 12 years. The Convention prohibited children from being employed even as actors before the age of 12.
Optional Protocol to Convention on Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
LUIGI CITARELLA, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, said that the report indicated that the Austrian armed forces did not operate schools while in reality, there was a school in Vienna for students from age 14 which provided a higher secondary education with a specialization in natural sciences. It was like a military-led boarding school.
He asked if special education for recovery was provided for refugees and migrant children entering the country who had previously been exposed to armed conflict.
Other Experts also raised questions on whether children of 17 years were protected from being directly involved in hostilities in the field while they were actually deployed for other purposes.
In response, the delegation said that the Austrian military did not operate a military school. The school mentioned by the Rapporteur was a civilian school run by the Ministry of Education. It was a traditional school dating back a long time.
Austria was one of the few countries where there were no military courts or prisons. There were no special regulations for the military. The same civilian jurisdiction was applied to military offenders. In the absence of military justice, conscientious objectors were handled by the civilian rules and regulations.
There was a possibility that a young person of 17 years could volunteer to join the military service. To join the military, the individuals should be 18 years. Parental consent was necessary for children to volunteer to serve in the army before the age of 18.
Austria was a neutral country and the army was not sent to areas of direct hostilities abroad. The Austrian army had not been involved in hostilities in the country for many decades.
Preliminary Remarks
LUIGI CITARELLA, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the reports of Austria, thanked the members of the delegation for the additional information they had provided to the Committee during the dialogue. The Committee was aware of the high commitment of Austria in its implementation of the provisions of the Convention and its efforts to improve the conditions of children. He said that in its final conclusions, the Committee would once again raise the problem of Austria's reservation and would ask for its withdrawal, although it had not affected the rights of the child. It would also recommend, among other things, that all professionals have a good knowledge of the Convention. The Government should make available data on children. Alleged cases of discrimination and xenophobic acts should be faced and preventive measures should be designed to avoid their occurrence. The Committee would also express concern on the problem of coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the rights of the child at the Länders level. The dissolution of the juvenile courts without any similar substitution was also a matter of concern.
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