UN Committee to review Brunei’s record on children’s rights

GENEVA (19 January  2016) – Children’s rights in Brunei Darussalam will be reviewed by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 21 January in sessions that will be webcast live. Brunei is one of the 196 states that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and so is required to undergo regular examinations of its record by the Committee of 18 independent experts.

The CRC members will hold discussions with a government delegation from Brunei on how the Convention is being implemented. The Committee will base its evaluation on the delegation’s replies, as well as information from civil society groups.

These are among the possible issues to be discussed: Criteria for determining which law system (Islamic, secular or otherwise) applies for which cases; various minimum ages for marriage; protection from discrimination for children born out of wedlock; universal and free birth registration; measures to prevent children being stateless; freedom of religion and belief for children; minimum age, safeguards and conditions for children in work; legal status of female genital mutilation, measures to eliminate it, minimum age of criminal responsibility, corporal punishment. 

The full list of issues and Brunei’s submitted written report can be found here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=924&Lang=en

The CRC’s meetings with the delegation will take place in Room XXIV at Palais des Nations in Geneva on 21 January from 10:00 - 18:00 (17:00 – 01:00 in Brunei Lusaka.) The sessions are public and will be webcast here: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/.

The CRC will hold a news conference to discuss its findings on Brunei and the other countries being reviewed - Senegal, Iran, Oman, Latvia, France, Ireland, Haiti, Peru, Maldives, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Benin, Brunei and Kenya - at 12:00 on 4 February at the Palais des Nations. The findings, officially called concluding observations, will be published on 4 February here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=924&Lang=en

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact Liz Throssell (+41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 752 0488 ethrossell@ohchr.org
To learn more about the Committee on the Rights of the Child, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc
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