Relation and discrepancy between various children laws

Child law is a legal specialty focused on laws, policies and practices that affect children and their families. Traditionally the practice of children’s law focused on the legal representation of children in a range of legal proceedings, including child abuse and neglect; juvenile justice, child custody and visitation, adoption, and other forms of civil litigation involving children.

The African charter on rights and welfare of a child is a comprehensive instrument that sets out rights and defines universal principles and norms for the status of children.

Harmonization regarding children has been achieved as the Law of the Child Act of 2009 highly reflects the spirit of the convention on the rights of the child and the African charter on rights and welfare of the child. Both has been successfully in requiring a holistic approach of integrating the provisions in the legal system as well as actual enforcement, considering the fact that rights of children are indivisible.

Regarding the similarities between the Law of a child, convention on the rights of the child and the African charter on rights and welfare of the child, they both establish that the child is a person below 18 years old. Article 1 of the convention states, for the purpose of the present convention, a child means every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is obtained earlier.[1]Also section 4 of the law of child act provides that a person below the age of eighteen years shall be known as a child.[2] The African charter on rights and welfare of the child, under article 2 has a clearer definition of the child as a person aged less than 18 years old[3].

Also they both established the four general principles that are; the best interests of the child, where by in Tanzania law under section 4(2) of the Law of child act requires the best interest of a child to be a primary consideration in all actions concerning a child whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts or administrative bodies, article 4 of the African charter on rights and welfare of the child and article 12 of the convention on rights of a child also calls for the best interest of a child.

Another similarity is that they both call for Non-discrimination, in accordance with section 5(1) of the Law of child Act, a child shall have a right to live free from any discrimination, this section enlist discrimination against a child as gender, race, age, religion, language, political opinion, disability, health status or rural/urban background.

They both also call for the right to life, survival and development that every child has the right to life as per article 13 of the Constitution of the united republic of Tanzania[4]. Also they both require a holistic approach of integrating the provisions in the legal system as well as actual enforcement considering the fact that rights of children are indivisible.

The difference between these laws is that; article 20 of the African charter is supporting physical punishment by parents while the convention on the rights of a child does not support the physical punishment by parents as it unclear regarding the meaning of domestic discipline

The ACRWC prohibits torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of the child, and according to international human rights law, the treatment of persons which is not appropriate to their age and legal status is inhuman. Although the abolition of life imprisonment of children is implied in the ACRWC, such prohibition needs clarification. As a result, in respect of the issue of clear standing on matters of life imprisonment, the ACRWC stays one step behind the CRC.[5]

When dealing with gaps found in these laws, one has to talk about for the granting rights of the children to return to school after pregnancy, the African charter on rights and welfare of the child has granted a child to return to school after pregnancy while the law of child act has not been amended with the inclusion of that right.

The CRC did not mention the rights such as to remain silent, to be protected from retroactive legislation to challenge detention, or to be compensated for miscarriages of justice while the law of child act did mention those rights

References:

Constitution of the united republic of Tanzania.

Law of a child act of 2009.

N. Muhindi, A proposal for an African Draft Charter on the rights of the child.

The African charter on rights and welfare of the child

The Convention on the rights of a child

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[1]The Convention on the rights of a child,article 1.

[2]Law of a child act of 2009Sec. 4

[3] The African charter on rights and welfare of the child, article 2

[4] Constitution of the united republic of Tanzania, article 13.

[5] N. Muhindi, A proposal for an African Draft Charter on the rights of the child.