Defining "Child" and "Child Soldier"

Children pelting a police vehicle with stones . KT Photo: Imran Ali

Defining "child" and "child soldier"

[Source:  Child Soldiers: Victims or War Criminals? — Regional Academy on the United Nations
http://www.ra-un.org/uploads/4/7/5/4/47544571/child_soldiers_-_victims_or_war_criminals.pdf]

Before we are able to analyze criminal responsibility of child soldiers, we need to firstly determine what definitions of "child" and "child soldier" are. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is "every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".[1] Taking into consideration that this treaty is the single most ratified human rights treaty in the world, we shall take this definition as the operative for the use of this paper. However, definitions of child soldiers have varied and could have been deduced only indirectly from international conventions, treaties or national legislation.

Although there are differences in the initial age threshold for taking part in hostilities and being recruited by the armed forces, all of the international instruments are generally leaning toward the age limit of 18, some explicitly while others advise the same practice. The operative definition of child soldier that the UNICEF is using, and that is based on the Cape Town Principles from 1997, is that "a ‘child soldier’ is any child – boy or girl – under 18 years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including, but not limited to: cooks, porters, messengers, and anyone accompanying such groups other than family members".[2] The Paris Principles from 2007 state that "A child associated with an armed force or armed group” refers to any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities".[3] As we can see, the Paris Principles have changed the phrase "child soldier" to "a child associated with an armed force or armed group", but the essence of the definition is the same. 

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[1] Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 s 1 (1)

[2] Cape Town Principles 1997 Definitions

[3] Paris Principles 2007 Definitions