UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

For the purposes of this Convention, a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child…

The States Parties to this Convention shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without…

In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or…

States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognised in the…

States Parties shall respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents or, where applicable, the members of the extended family or community…

The States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life.

The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have from birth the right to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far…

The States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as…

States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject…

In accordance with the obligation of States Parties under Article 9, paragraph 1, applications by a child or his or her parents to enter or leave a…

The States Parties shall take measures to combat the illicit transfer and non-return of children abroad.

The States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters…

The child has the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds…

The States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

The States Parties recognize the rights of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly.

No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her private life, family life, home or correspondence, nor to any…

The States Parties recognize the important function of the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a…

States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibility for the upbringing…

States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of…

A child who is temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment, or who in his or her own best interests cannot be allowed to…

The States Parties that recognise and/or permit the system of adoption shall ensure that the best interests of the child shall be the paramount…

States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure that a child who is seeking refugee status or who is considered a refugee in accordance with…

States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity…

States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of…

The States Parties recognize the right of a child who has been placed by the competent authorities for the purposes of care, protection or treatment…

The States Parties recognize for every child the right to benefit from social security facilities, including social insurance, and shall take the…

The States Parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social…

The States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal…

The States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:

In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority shall…

States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the…

States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be…

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislative, administrative, social and educational measures, to protect children from…

States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall, in…

The States Parties shall take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in…

The States Parties shall protect the child against all other forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspect of the child's welfare.

The States Parties shall ensure that:

The States Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian law applicable to them in armed conflicts which…

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any…

States Parties recognize the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner…

No provision of this Convention shall affect any provisions which are more conducive to the realisation of the rights of the child and which are…

The States Parties undertake to make the principles and provisions of this Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and…

For the purpose of examining the progress made by States Parties in achieving the realization of the obligations undertaken in the present…

The States Parties undertake to submit to the Committee, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, reports on the…

In order to promote the effective application of the Convention and to encourage international cooperation in the field covered by the Convention:

This Convention is open for signature by all States.

This Convention shall be ratified. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

This Convention shall remain open for accession by any State. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the…

This Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the date of deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the…

Any State Party may propose an amendment and file it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General shall thereupon…

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall receive the texts of the reservations made by the States at the time of ratification or accession…

A State Party may denounce this Convention by written notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The denunciation shall take effect…

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is designated as the depositary of this Convention.

The original of this Convention, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited…