legally entitled to work and the age at which he is treated as an adult under labour law. States
should further indicate the age at which a child is considered adult for the purposes of article 10,
paragraphs 2 and 3. However, the Committee notes that the age for the above purposes should not
be set unreasonably low and that in any case a State party cannot absolve itself from its obligations
under the Covenant regarding persons under the age of 18, notwithstanding that they have reached
the age of majority under domestic law.
5.
The Covenant requires that children should be protected against discrimination on any
grounds such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, property or birth. In
this connection, the Committee notes that, whereas non-discrimination in the enjoyment of the
rights provided for in the Covenant also stems, in the case of children, from article 2 and their
equality before the law from article 26, the non-discrimination clause contained in article 24 relates
specifically to the measures of protection referred to in that provision. Reports by States parties
should indicate how legislation and practice ensure that measures of protection are aimed at
removing all discrimination in every field, including inheritance, particularly as between children who
are nationals and children who are aliens or as between legitimate children and children born out of
wedlock.
6.
Responsibility for guaranteeing children the necessary protection lies with the family, society
and the State. Although the Covenant does not indicate how such responsibility is to be apportioned,
it is primarily incumbent on the family, which is interpreted broadly to include all persons composing
it in the society of the State party concerned, and particularly on the parents, to create conditions to
promote the harmonious development of the child’s personality and his enjoyment of the rights
recognized in the Covenant. However, since it is quite common for the father and mother to be
gainfully employed outside the home, reports by States parties should indicate how society, social
institutions and the State are discharging their responsibility to assist the family in ensuring the
protection of the child. Moreover, in cases where the parents and the family seriously fail in their
duties, ill-treat or neglect the child, the State should intervene to restrict parental authority and the
child may be separated from his family when circumstances so require. If the marriage is dissolved,
steps should be taken, keeping in view the paramount interest of the children, to give them
necessary protection and, so far as is possible, to guarantee personal relations with both parents.
The Committee considers it useful that reports by States parties should provide information on the
special measures of protection adopted to protect children who are abandoned or deprived of their
family environment in order to enable them to develop in conditions that most closely resemble
those characterizing the family environment.
7.
Under article 24, paragraph 2, every child has the right to be registered immediately after
birth and to have a name. In the Committee’s opinion, this provision should be interpreted as being
closely linked to the provision concerning the right to special measures of protection and it is
designed to promote recognition of the child’s legal personality. Providing for the right to have a
name is of special importance in the case of children born out of wedlock. The main purpose of the
obligation to register children after birth is to reduce the danger of abduction, sale of or traffic in
children, or of other types of treatment that are incompatible with the enjoyment of the rights
provided for in the Covenant. Reports by States parties should indicate in detail the measures that
ensure the immediate registration of children born in their territory.
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