One of the most important problems modern society having deep social roots is the use of juvenile labor. The legislative consolidation of a special attitude of society towards the younger generation is a trend that characterizes many countries of the world.
Among other rights of minors, the right to work and its safe conditions are legally enshrined in legal acts of international and national legislation. Despite the quite natural desire of the legislators of many states to limit the use of the labor of minors, this is not always consistent with the real conditions of society. First of all, the use of the labor of minors attracts employers, because the work of this category of workers, as a rule, is low-paid, young workers are not able to defend their labor rights. However, there is also a downside to this problem. Labor is a form of individualization of the personality, and many adolescents seek to assert themselves through work. In addition, it allows you to earn pocket money and spend it without parental permission, which increases the motivation of child labor. According to the International Labor Office, the majority of child laborers work in agriculture- 75 - 80%, about 10% work in the manufacturing industry, the rest - in restaurants, shops, cafes and other public service outlets.
In many countries, child labor is seen as a means of vocational training, learning about life and becoming a person. For example, in Germany, about 45% of high school students work in their free time, although child labor itself is strictly regulated by national legislation.
The trend of limiting child labor is reflected in an international initiative called the Child Labor Eradication Program, which more and more states are joining.
The main problems to be resolved both in national legislation and at the international level are reduced to the establishment of the age limit from which the work of minors is possible, the prohibition of the use of their labor in hard, hazardous work, establishing guarantees for hiring and dismissal of adolescents. In particular, on October 9, 1946, under the auspices of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Convention No. 78 on the medical examination of children and adolescents was adopted in Montreal in order to determine their suitability for work in non-industrial jobs. In accordance with Art. 1 of the Convention, its rules apply to children and adolescents working for wages or working directly or indirectly for remuneration in non-industrial jobs. Signatory States proceed from the premise that children and adolescents under 18 years of age will not be hired or employed in non-industrial undertakings unless, as a result of a thorough medical examination, it is determined that they are suitable for such work.
The issues of limiting the night work of adolescents are devoted to: Convention N 79 on the restriction of night work of children and adolescents in non-industrial work, adopted in Geneva on October 9, 1946, and Convention N 90 on the night work of adolescents in industry, adopted in San Francisco on July 10, 1948 .
Convention No. 79 on the limitation of night work of children and adolescents in non-industrial work applied only to "non-industrial work", which meant all work, with the exception of those considered by the competent authorities as industrial, agricultural and marine work. At the same time, it was conceded that, under national laws or regulations, the Convention might not apply to domestic work in private households and work that is not considered harmful, prejudicial or dangerous to children or adolescents in family businesses employing only parents and their children or persons under their care. The subjects covered by the norms of the Convention were minors, including children under 14 years of age. So, in accordance with Art. 2 of the Convention, children under the age of 14 who may be employed in full-time or part-time work, and children over 14 who are still required to attend school full-time, shall not be employed in night-time work for a period of at least 14 consecutive hours, including the time between 8 pm and 8 am.
As can be seen from the text of the Convention, the differentiation of working conditions for minors was carried out depending on the fact of school attendance: children over 14 years of age who are no longer required to attend school full-time, and adolescents under the age of 18 are not used for work at night during the period lasting at least 12 consecutive hours, including the time between 10 pm and 6 am. An exception was made to this rule under Art. 3 of the Convention, where it was declared that in the presence of special circumstances affecting a certain branch of activity or a certain area, the competent authorities may, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, fix, in respect of children and adolescents employed in that branch of activity or area, an interval between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. between 10 pm and 6 am. Along with this, night work could be permissible due to climatic conditions, as well as due to emergency circumstances, which was enshrined in Art. 4 of the Convention.
ILO Convention No. 90 concerning Night Work of Adolescents in Industry (revised in 1948) was another step towards strengthening international guarantees for adolescent work. The Convention established restrictions on the night work of minors in industrial enterprises, which meant, in particular:
a) mines, quarries and other enterprises for the extraction of minerals from the earth;
b) establishments in which objects are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, decorated, finished, prepared for sale, destroyed or destroyed, or in which materials are transformed, including shipbuilding establishments and establishments for the production, transformation and transmission of electricity or propulsion of any kind;
c) enterprises engaged in construction and civil engineering work, including construction, repair, maintenance, alteration and dismantling;
d) undertakings engaged in the transport of persons or goods by road or railways, including cargo handling at docks, wharfs, jetties, warehouses or airports.
The term "night" was interpreted as "a period of at least twelve consecutive hours" (Article 2 of the Convention). Its beginning and end, i.e. from 10 pm to 6 am, comply with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
In the case of adolescents who have reached the age of 16 but have not reached the age of 18, this period shall include a period of time fixed by the competent authority of at least 7 consecutive hours between 10 pm and 7 am; the competent authority may fix different time intervals for different areas, branches of industry, undertakings or their branches, but it is obliged to consult with the employers' and workers' organizations concerned before fixing a time interval after 11 p.m.
In accordance with Art. 3 of the Convention, minors under 18 years of age shall not be used for night work in public and private industrial enterprises or in any branches of these enterprises, except as provided below.
For the purpose of apprenticeship or vocational training in certain branches of industry or in certain professions that must work around the clock, or in certain jobs of a continuous nature, the competent authorities may, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, authorize the use of night work by adolescents who have reached the age of 16 years of age, but under the age of 18. In these cases, adolescents employed in night work are provided with a rest period of at least 13 consecutive hours between the end of work and a new entry into work.
Just like the 1946 Convention, the document in question allows teenagers to work at night due to climatic conditions and in case of emergency.
As already mentioned, one of the areas of social protection of adolescents is the legislative restriction of the minimum age from which employment is possible. Several international documents were devoted to this problem, among which an important place is occupied by: ILO Convention No. 7 on determining the minimum age for admission of children to work at sea (Genoa, June 15, 1920), ILO Convention No. 10 on the minimum age for admitting children to work in agriculture (Geneva, October 25, 1921), ILO Convention No. 33 on the age of admission of children to non-industrial work (Geneva, April 30, 1932), ILO Convention No. 60 on the age of admission of children to non-industrial work (Geneva, June 22 1937), ILO Convention No. 123 concerning the minimum age of admission to underground work in mines and mines (Geneva, June 22, 1965).
Each of these documents establishes a minimum age in a particular area of production.
The determining factor in the beginning of labor activity for general rule stands for the completion of compulsory schooling. A common minimum age is 14, although exceptions to this rule are allowed. For example, ILO Convention No. 33 on the age of employment of children in non-industrial work provides that children over 12 years of age may, outside the time allotted for school attendance, be used in light work, provided that these works:
a) not harmful to health or to their normal development;
b) are not inherently detrimental to their diligent studies in school or their ability to perceive what is taught to them in school;
c) do not last more than two hours a day, both on school days and on days off, provided that the total daily number of hours devoted to school and light work does not in any case exceed seven hours.
Quite natural is the minimum age - 16 years, established by the ILO Convention N 123 on the minimum age for admission to underground work in mines and mines.
A special place among others is occupied by the ILO Convention N 138 on the minimum age for admission to work. The document has a unifying character. It summarized the experience of previously adopted international instruments and indicated that the time had come for the development of a general instrument on this issue, which would gradually replace existing instruments applicable to limited economic sectors, with a view to achieving the complete abolition of child labour. The Convention calls upon each State for which this Convention is in force to implement national policies designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labor and the progressive increase of the minimum age for employment to a level appropriate to the fullest physical and mental development of adolescents.
The minimum age must not be less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and, in any case, must not be less than 15 years. It was also envisaged that a State whose economy and education system were not sufficiently developed could, after consultation with the employers' and workers' organizations concerned, where they existed, initially fix the age of 14 years as the minimum. Unfortunately, Russia is currently one of those countries in which employment is allowed from the age of 14. This is explained by the legal tradition established in international practice, according to which the beginning of labor activity coincides with the end of compulsory schooling. The decrease in the minimum age in Russia was associated with the enactment of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Education", adopted on July 10, 1992, in which incomplete secondary nine-year education was introduced as compulsory. In this regard, there was a legal opportunity to expel teenagers from school after finishing 9 classes, i.e. who have reached the age of 14. Thus, the enactment of the Law "On Education" indirectly influenced the increase in the army of the unemployed at the expense of teenagers expelled from schools. In turn, this reason prompted the legislator to lower the age for admission to independent work.
International principles aimed at strengthening the legal status of minors, are reflected in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in New York on November 20, 1989, in accordance with Art. 32 of this Convention, States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that may endanger his health or serve as an obstacle to his education or be harmful to his health and physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. . States Parties shall take legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure that the requirements of this article are met. To this end, guided by the relevant provisions of other international instruments, the participating States, in particular.
One of the most important problems of modern society, which has deep social roots, is the use of underage labor. The legislative consolidation of a special attitude of society towards the younger generation is a trend that characterizes many countries of the world. Among other rights of minors, the right to work and ᴇᴦο safe conditions are legally enshrined in legal acts of international and national legislation. Despite the quite natural desire of the legislators of many states to limit the use of the labor of minors, this is not always consistent with the real conditions of society. First of all, the use of the labor of minors attracts employers, because The work of this category of workers is usually low-paid, young workers are not able to defend their labor rights. However, there is also a downside to this problem. Labor is a form of individualization of the personality, and many adolescents seek to assert themselves through work. In addition, it allows you to earn pocket money and spend it without parental permission, which increases the motivation of child labor. According to the International Labor Office, most of the working children work in agriculture - 75-80%, about 10% work in the manufacturing industry, the rest - in restaurants, shops, cafes and other public service outlets.
In many countries, child labor is seen as a means of vocational training, learning about life and becoming a person. For example, in Germany, about 45% of high school students work in their free time, although child labor itself is strictly regulated by national legislation.
The trend of limiting child labor is reflected in an international initiative called the Child Labor Eradication Program, which more and more states are joining.
The main problems to be resolved both in national legislation and at the international level are reduced to establishing the age limit from which the work of minors is possible, prohibiting the use of their labor in hard, hazardous work, establishing guarantees for hiring and dismissing adolescents. In particular, on September 19, 1946, under the auspices of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Convention No. 78 on the medical examination of children and adolescents was adopted in Montreal in order to determine their suitability for work in non-industrial jobs. In accordance with Art. 1 of the Convention, its rules apply to children and adolescents working for wages or working directly or indirectly for remuneration in non-industrial jobs. Signatory States proceed from the premise that children and adolescents under 18 years of age will not be hired or employed in non-industrial undertakings unless, as a result of a thorough medical examination, it is determined that they are suitable for such work.
Labor rights of minors in the norms international law- concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Labor rights of minors in the norms of international law" 2015, 2017-2018.
One of the most important problems of modern society, which has deep social roots, is the use of underage labor. The legislative consolidation of a special attitude of society towards the younger generation is a trend that characterizes many countries of the world. Among other rights of minors, the right to work and its safe conditions are legally enshrined in legal acts of international and national legislation. Despite the quite natural desire of the legislators of many states to limit the use of the labor of minors, this is not always consistent with the real conditions of society. First of all, the use of the labor of minors attracts employers, because The work of this category of workers is usually low-paid, young workers are not able to defend their labor rights. However, there is also a downside to this problem. Labor is a form of individualization of the personality, and many adolescents seek to assert themselves through work. In addition, it allows you to earn pocket money and spend it without parental permission, which increases the motivation of child labor. According to the International Labor Office, most of the working children work in agriculture - 75-80%, about 10% work in the manufacturing industry, the rest - in restaurants, shops, cafes and other public service points of the population.
In many countries, child labor is seen as a means of vocational training, knowledge of life and development.
personality. For example, in Germany, about 45% of high school students work in their free time, although child labor itself is strictly regulated by national legislation.
The trend of limiting child labor is reflected in an international initiative called the Child Labor Eradication Program, which more and more states are joining.
The main problems to be resolved both in national legislation and at the international level are reduced to establishing the age limit from which the work of minors is possible, prohibiting the use of their labor in hard, hazardous work, establishing guarantees for hiring and dismissing adolescents. In particular, on September 19, 1946, under the auspices of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Convention No. 78 on the medical examination of children and adolescents was adopted in Montreal in order to determine their suitability for work in non-industrial jobs. In accordance with Art. 1 of the Convention, its rules apply to children and adolescents working for wages or working directly or indirectly for remuneration in non-industrial jobs. Signatory States proceed from the premise that children and adolescents under 18 years of age will not be hired or employed in non-industrial undertakings unless, as a result of a thorough medical examination, it is determined that they are suitable for such work.
The issues of limiting the night work of adolescents are devoted to: Convention No. 79 on the restriction of night work of children and adolescents in non-industrial jobs, adopted in Geneva on October 9, 1946, and Convention No. 90 on the night work of adolescents in industry, adopted in San Francisco on June 17, 1948 .
Convention No. 79 on the Restriction of Night Work of Children and Adolescents in Non-Industrial Works applied only to "non-industrial work", which meant all work, with the exception of those considered by the competent authorities as industrial, agricultural and maritime work. At the same time, it was assumed that on the basis of national
laws or regulations, the Convention might not apply to domestic work in private homes and work that is not considered harmful, harmful or dangerous to children or adolescents in family businesses in which only parents and their children or persons under their care are employed. The subjects covered by the norms of the Convention were minors, including children under 14 years of age. So, in accordance with Art. 2 of the Convention, children under the age of 14 who may be employed in full-time or part-time work, and children over 14 who are still required to attend school full-time, shall not be employed in night-time work for a period of at least 14 consecutive hours, including the time between 8 pm and 8 am.
As can be seen from the text of the Convention, the differentiation of working conditions for minors was carried out depending on the fact of school attendance: children over 14 years of age who are no longer required to attend school full-time, and adolescents under the age of 18 are not used for work at night during the period lasting at least 12 consecutive hours, including the time between 10 pm and 6 am. An exception was made to this rule under Art. 3 of the Convention, where it was declared that in the presence of special circumstances affecting a certain branch of activity or a certain area, the competent states may, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, establish in respect of children and adolescents employed in this branch of activity or area, a period of time between 11 pm and 7 am instead of the time between 10 pm and 6 am. Along with this, night work could be permissible due to climatic conditions, as well as due to emergency circumstances, which was enshrined in Art. 4 of the Convention.
The ILO Convention No. 90 on the night work of adolescents in industry (revised in 1948) was another step towards Strengthening international guarantees for adolescent labor. The Convention established restrictions on night work that did not
adults in industrial enterprises, which meant, in particular:
a) mines, quarries and other enterprises for the extraction of minerals from the earth;
b) establishments in which objects are manufactured, altered, cleaned, repaired, decorated, finished, prepared for sale, destroyed or destroyed, or in which materials are transformed, including shipbuilding establishments and establishments for the production, transformation and transmission of electricity or propulsion of any kind;
c) enterprises engaged in construction and civil engineering work, including construction, repair, maintenance, alteration and dismantling;
d) undertakings engaged in the transport of persons or goods by road or rail, including the handling of goods at docks, wharves, wharves, warehouses or airports.
The term "night" was interpreted as "a period of at least twelve consecutive hours" (Article 2 of the Convention). Its beginning and end, i.e. from 10 pm to 6 am, comply with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
For adolescents who have reached the age of 16 but have not reached the age of 18, this period includes a period of time established by the competent authority atati, lasting at least 7 consecutive hours between 10 pm and 7 am; the competent authority may fix different time intervals for different areas, branches of industry, undertakings or their branches, but it is obliged to consult with the employers' and workers' organizations concerned before fixing a time interval after 11 p.m.
In accordance with Art. 3 of the Convention, adolescents under the age of 18 are not used for night work in public and private industrial enterprises or in any branches of these enterprises, except as provided below.
For the purposes of apprentice or vocational training in certain branches of industry or in certain
In professions which must work around the clock, or in certain jobs of a continuous nature, the competent authorities may, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, authorize the use of night work by adolescents who have attained the age of 16 but who have not attained the age of 18. In these cases, adolescents employed in night work shall be given a rest period of at least 13 consecutive hours between the end of work and a new entry into work.
Just like the 1946 Convention, the document in question allows teenagers to work at night due to climatic conditions and in case of emergency.
As already mentioned, one of the areas of social protection of adolescents is the legislative restriction of the minimum age from which employment is possible. Several international documents were devoted to this problem, among which an important place is occupied by: ILO Convention No. 7 on determining the minimum age for admission of children to work at sea (Genoa, June 15, 1920), ILO Convention No. 10 on the minimum age for admitting children to work in agriculture (Geneva, 25 October 1921), ILO Convention No. 33 concerning the Age of Employment of Children in Non-Industrial Occupations (Geneva, 12 April 1932), ILO Convention No. 60 concerning the Age of Employment of Children in Non-Industrial Occupations (Geneva, 3 June 1937), ILO Convention No. 123 concerning the Minimum Age for Eligibility for Underground Work in Mines and Mines (Geneva, 2 June 1965).
Each of these documents establishes a minimum age in a particular area of production.
The determining factor in the beginning of labor activity, as a general rule, is the completion of compulsory school education. A common minimum age is 14, although exceptions to this rule are allowed. For example. The ILO Convention No. 33 on the age of employment of children in non-industrial work provides that children over 12 years of age may, outside the time allotted for school attendance, be used in light work, provided that these works:
a) not harmful to health or to their normal development;
b) are not inherently detrimental to their diligent studies in school or their ability to perceive what is taught to them in school;
c) do not last more than two hours a day, both on school days and on days off, provided that the total daily number of hours devoted to school and light work does not in any case exceed seven hours.
Quite natural is the minimum age - 16 years, established by the ILO Convention No. 123 on the minimum age for admission to underground work in mines and mines.
A special place among others is occupied by the ILO Convention No. 138 on the minimum age for employment. The document has a unifying character. It summarized the experience of previously adopted international instruments and indicated that the time had come for the development of a general instrument on this issue, which would gradually replace existing instruments applicable to limited economic sectors, with a view to achieving the complete abolition of child labour. The Convention calls upon each State for which this Convention is in force to implement national policies designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labor and the progressive increase of the minimum age for employment to a level appropriate to the fullest physical and mental development of adolescents.
The minimum age must not be less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and, in any case, must not be less than 15 years. It was also envisaged that a State whose economy and education system were not sufficiently developed could, after consultation with the employers' and workers' organizations concerned, where they existed, initially fix the age of 14 years as the minimum. Unfortunately, Russia is currently one of those countries in which employment is allowed from the age of 14. This is explained by the legal tradition established in international practice, according to which the beginning of labor activity coincides with the end of compulsory schooling. The decrease in the minimum age in Russia was associated with the enactment of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Education", adopted on July 10
1992, in which incomplete secondary nine-year education was introduced as compulsory. In this regard, there was a legal opportunity to expel teenagers from school after finishing 9 classes, i.e. who have reached the age of 14. Thus, the enactment of the Law "On Education" indirectly influenced the increase in the army of the unemployed due to teenagers who were expelled from schools. In turn, this reason prompted the legislator to lower the age for admission to independent work.
International principles aimed at strengthening the legal status of minors are reflected in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in New York on November 20, 1989 in accordance with Art. 32 of this Convention, States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that may endanger his health or interfere with his education or be harmful to his health and physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. States Parties shall take legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure that the requirements of this article are met. To this end, guided by the relevant provisions of other international instruments, the participating States, in particular:
a) establish a minimum age or minimum ages for employment;
b) determine the necessary requirements for the duration of the working day and working conditions;
c) provide for appropriate types of punishment or other sanctions to ensure the effective implementation of the requirements of this article.
These norms-principles are implemented in the legislative systems of many countries. Thus, in the documents of the Federal Republic of Germany concerning the use and protection of labor of minors, the types of labor to which adolescents are not allowed are defined; in Norway, loading and unloading operations on water transport and etc.
The problems of juvenile delinquency at the beginning of the new millennium are relevant not only for the Russian state, but also for the world community as a whole. This is due, in our opinion, not only to the processes of globalization taking place in the economic, social, political spheres of modern society, but also to the desire of states to ensure peace, freedom, dignity and security legal protection new generation.
basis legal regulation criminal liability minors in Russian Federation create, first of all, the norms of national criminal legislation. However special meaning in this aspect, international legal acts play, which are the legal basis for ensuring international standards for the application of criminal law measures by civilized states in relation to this category of persons. The main sources in this area of international law are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984). ), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and other international instruments.
In the last decades of the last century, the UN General Assembly adopted international documents that establish and regulate in detail the rules for the application of criminal law measures against juveniles - these are the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules) of 1985 and the UN Rules, Concerning the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, 1990
These documents emphasize, firstly, the need to prevent and combat juvenile delinquency; secondly, the attention of the states is focused on the need to comply with the national legislation "spirit of the Rules"; thirdly, States are invited to cooperate in the development of a strategy for dealing with different categories of young offenders who commit serious and repeated offences.
According to the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, one of the main objectives of the justice system is to protect their rights and safety and promote their good physical and mental health; the detention of a juvenile in a correctional facility should be used as a measure of last resort and for the minimum necessary period of time.
However, in the Russian practice of applying criminal punishment to this category of persons, imprisonment is the most common. Analysis of the current system of penalties under Art. 88 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, allows us to state that the court has limited options. Penalties such as arrest and compulsory labor are not currently applied; a fine and correctional labor have no prospects for their application, tk. a fine can be imposed on a minor only if he has independent earnings or property that can be levied on; to involve in correctional labor, it is necessary to interest the heads of enterprises or organizations. Accordingly, the majority of adolescents brought to criminal responsibility and serving sentences are isolated from society for a certain period. Such isolation of a teenager from the usual social environment creates a problem associated with the alienation of a teenager from society. Thus, the socialization of a teenager takes place in a system dominated by asocial (antisocial) attitudes and values, which subsequently provokes repeated criminal acts.
We draw attention to foreign experience in the application of criminal law measures in relation to minors. In civilized foreign states today conditions are being created under which adolescent offenders, when implementing criminal punishment, nevertheless, are not outcasts from society; social values are transmitted to them through educational activities or, for example, religious teachings. Thus, in England there is a system of correctional and educational centers with a short period of detention of juvenile offenders from 3 to 6 months. In France, private places of execution of punishment, belonging to charitable and religious societies, are being created. In Switzerland, closed care of minors is practiced (at least 14 days and not more than 4 years).
It seems that interstate cooperation in resolving issues of juvenile justice at the beginning of the new millennium could increase the effectiveness of the implementation of criminal liability for this category of persons. Moreover, today there are international standards the application of criminal law measures to minors that comply with the laws of most civilized states. This could also contribute to the development of a more effective criminal law policy in relation to juvenile offenders and the solution of issues of general prevention in our country.
L.V. Prokhorova
Candida! Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor
The current stage of development of Russian society is accompanied by the growth of social and economic problems, the impoverishment of a significant part of the country's population, the weakening of the family institution, the increase in divorces and single-parent families, domestic violence, which has a significant impact on the upbringing of the younger generation.
Neglect and homelessness of minors still continue to be one of the most acute problems of Russian society. According to official sources, more than 100,000 children are identified annually as being left without parental care, among whom the vast majority are social orphans, ie. children abandoned by parents, or children taken from parents who do not fulfill their duties in raising a child 1 . Over the past 100 years, Russia is experiencing a third wave of orphanhood: after the First World War and the October Revolution of 1917, after Patriotic War 1941-45 and at present.
AT last years the tendency of minors to go to the marginalized strata of society has intensified. Of the 28 million children living in the Russian Federation - 700 thousand. - homeless children, about 2 million - illiterate teenagers, more than 6 million - teenagers in socially unfavorable conditions 2 .
The result of these processes was an increase in the spread of drugs and various psychotropic drugs, alcohol among children and adolescents and, as a result, an increase in the number of offenses among minors.
It is quite obvious that minors are one of the most criminally affected and least socially protected categories of the population.
As shows arbitrage practice, the vast majority of minors have a very low level of legal culture. It leads to a large number offenses committed by children and adolescents.
The data of criminal statistics of juvenile delinquency testify to an alarming state of affairs.
So, but according to the official data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, a tenth of all criminal offenses are committed by minors.
Under these conditions, the prevention of juvenile delinquency and youth is of particular importance.
In accordance with Part 4 of Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, “Generally recognized principles and norms of international law and international treaties of the Russian Federation are an integral part of its legal system. If an international treaty of the Russian Federation establishes other rules than those provided for by law, then the rules of the international treaty shall apply. It follows from this that the international legal documents containing generally recognized principles and norms of international law and having legal force on the territory of the Russian Federation in accordance with their ratification, should be taken into account in common system regulatory legal acts regulating the activities of the Russian Federation in the prevention of juvenile delinquency and youth, and their action has priority over national legislation. Moreover, the norms contained in international legal acts that ensure the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of juvenile offenders, as well as specific guarantees for their implementation on the territory of a State Party, should be enshrined in national legislation.
It should be emphasized that the system of prevention of juvenile delinquency is regulated in the norms of international law only through the provisions on juvenile justice, since in international law the preventive activities of states - parties to international treaties and agreements aimed at protecting the rights and interests of minors, are understood as activities to prevent for the first time committed, offenses, not delinquent behavior in general, but further offenses, i.e. after they have been committed, by replacing punitive justice with restorative justice.
It should be stated that the norms of international law practically do not reflect the activities of the world community, including the contracting states, but the prevention of crimes of young people who do not belong to the category of minors. Therefore, on the one hand, in this part of the work we are talking only about international documents regulating the protection of the rights and interests of only minors, i.e. persons under the age of 18, regardless of the fact that, due to a number of life circumstances, many minors in the Russian Federation acquire full civil and food capacity long before reaching adulthood. On the other hand, it is quite possible to extend the international acts listed below but by analogy to young people, for example, 18-20 years old.
In national laws, the age of majority is established by constitutions and other laws. In the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 60), for example, the age of majority is set at 18 years. In Germany, minors are considered to be persons under the age of 21. In this regard, in a number of fundamental international documents, the border between minority and adulthood is determined at 18 years old, but with a reservation, if an earlier age is not established by national legislation.
The international community, paying attention to the rights of children and youth, proceeds from the need for more thorough work that contributes to the development of the individual and the prevention of delinquency. Accordingly, the United Nations adopted four documents that directly affect the prevention of juvenile delinquency and the training of personnel for this:
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989);
Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules, 1985);
Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (Riyadh Guidelines, 1990);
Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (1990)
The Convention on the Rights of the Child 1 is a universal international treaty that establishes the basic standards of the rights of the child and the obligations of states to respect and guarantee these rights.
Thus, articles 37 and 40 of the Convention enshrine a whole range of substantive and procedural guarantees observance of human rights in relation to a minor brought to criminal responsibility.
Thus, article 37 provides that “States Parties shall ensure that: "Vedomosti of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, 1990. - No. 26.
(a) No child has been subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither the death penalty nor life imprisonment with no possibility of release is imposed for crimes committed by persons under the age of 18;
(b) No child has been deprived of liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in accordance with the law and used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;
(c) Every child deprived of his liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of his person, taking into account the needs of persons of his age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty must be separated from adults, unless it is considered in the child's best interests not to do so, and have the right to maintain contact with his family by correspondence and visits, except in special circumstances;
(d) Every child deprived of liberty has the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the lawfulness of his or her deprivation of liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial body, and the right to have them decide without delay on any such procedural action.” .
P. 1, Art. 40 states that “States Parties recognize the right of every child who is believed to have violated the criminal law, is accused or found guilty of having violated it, to such treatment that promotes the child’s sense of dignity and worth, strengthens in him respect for the rights individual and the fundamental freedoms of others, and which takes into account the age of the child and the desirability of facilitating his reintegration and his fulfillment of a useful role in society.”
For these purposes, as indicated in paragraph 2 of the said document, and taking into account the relevant provisions of international documents, the participating States, in particular, ensure that:
(a) No child has been considered, charged with or found guilty of a criminal law violation by reason of an act or omission that was not prohibited by national or international law at the time it was committed;
(b) Every child who is believed to have violated the criminal law or is accused of having violated it has at least the following guarantees:
I. presumption of innocence until proven guilty according to law;
II. informing him immediately and directly of the charges against him and, if necessary, through his parents or legal guardians, and obtaining legal and other necessary assistance in preparing and carrying out his defense;
III. a decision without delay on the matter under consideration by a competent, independent and impartial body or judicial body in a fair hearing in accordance with the law in the presence of a lawyer or other appropriate person and, unless considered contrary best interests the child, in particular with regard to his age or the position of his parents or legal guardians;
IV. freedom from compulsion to testify or confess guilt; examining the testimony of witnesses for the prosecution, either alone or with the assistance of others, and ensuring equal participation of witnesses for the defense and the examination of their testimony;
V. if the child is considered to have violated criminal law, re-examination by a higher competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial authority in accordance with the law of the relevant decision and any measures taken in this regard;
VI. free assistance of an interpreter if the child does not understand or speak the language used;
VII. full respect for his privacy at all stages of the proceedings.
Article 40, paragraph 3, of the Convention emphasizes that States parties should strive to establish laws, procedures, bodies and institutions relevant to children in conflict with criminal law that would ensure, if necessary, that measures be taken without resorting to judicial proceedings, subject to full observance of human rights and legal guarantees.
In accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 40 of the Convention, States Parties must take into account the need for “various measures such as nursing, guardianship provisions, supervision, counseling services, probation, education, education and training programs and other forms of care substitute for institutional care, with a view to ensuring that the child is treated in a manner consistent with his well-being, as well as his situation and the nature of the crime.
It should be emphasized that the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for a comprehensive approach to solving the issues of protecting the rights and legitimate interests of children, which should be aimed at a general increase in the standard of living and well-being, and not just at solving private, albeit acute problems.
The Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules) 1 establishes the recommended age of criminal responsibility, the objectives of juvenile justice, the rights of juveniles, the need to ensure the confidentiality of juvenile cases, regulates the procedure for investigating and trying juvenile cases, issuing a judgment and the choice of measures of influence on minors, as well as standards for the treatment of offenders in correctional institutions and outside of them.
The Riyadh Guidelines point out the need for specialization of legislation in juvenile affairs in order to promote and protect their character and well-being; maximum use of preventive and correctional programs for minors before committing a crime; the expediency of establishing the office of an ombudsman for minors, who would control the implementation of the recommendations of international documents and the protection of the rights of minors.
The UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty are based on the provision that the deprivation of liberty of a juvenile should be applied as a measure of last resort and for the minimum necessary time. It should be limited to exceptional cases in order to carry out the sentence of the court after conviction for the most dangerous species offenses and with due regard to the attendant conditions and circumstances.
The body of these norms of international law actually formulated a policy for the treatment of juveniles who commit offenses, including as structural elements preventive measures, social reintegration, safeguarding the human rights of juvenile offenders, applying alternative measures to imprisonment, arresting, detaining or depriving a child of liberty only as a last resort and for the shortest possible period of time, refraining from sentencing juveniles in the death penalty or life imprisonment.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its opinion on the second Periodic State Report of the Russian Federation on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, noted that it did not fully comply with the 1993 recommendation to bring national legislation in line with the principles and provisions of the Convention.
The Committee recommended that the Russian Federation take all necessary measures to speed up the process of reforming legislation, especially in the administration of juvenile justice and juvenile criminal justice, the protection of the rights of children with disabilities, the protection of children from alcoholism, drug addiction and substance abuse, from pornography, from all types of domestic violence, and the introduction of standards and control mechanisms for children's institutions of all types 1 .
The system of international legal documents aimed at protecting the rights and legitimate interests of minors and indirectly - at solving the problems of preventing delinquency of minors and young people should include a number of conventions on protecting the labor habits of these persons: in particular:
Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child “States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from the performance of any work that may endanger his health or interfere with his education, or be harmful to his health and physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. States Parties shall take legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure the implementation of this article. To this end, guided by the relevant provisions of other international instruments, the participating States, in particular:
a) establish a minimum age or minimum ages for employment;
b) determine the necessary requirements for the duration of the working day and working conditions;
(c) provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective implementation of this article.”
The protection of minors from economic exploitation at the international level is provided for in a number of conventions of the International Organization of Labor (ILO), most of which were ratified by the USSR. Among the ILO conventions, the following should be noted:
- Convention No. 16 "On Compulsory Medical Examination of Children and Young Persons Employed on Board Ships" (1921) 1 .
- Convention No. 77 "On the Medical Examination of Children and Adolescents for the Purpose of Determining Their Fitness for Employment in Industry" (1946) .
- Convention No. 78 "On the Medical Examination of Children and Adolescents for the Purpose of Determining Their Fitness for Employment in Non-Industrial Works" (1946)