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Canon Law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

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Canon Law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Chapter 3 Canon Law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1 The Holy See and the crc in Dispute This chapter explores the relationship between international children’s rights law and children’s rights in canon law. The Holy See is a State Party to the Unit- ed Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and two of its three Optional Protocols as well as a number of other treaties of relevance to children’s rights.1 It was among the earliest State Parties2 to the uncrc which is now the most ratified Convention in United Nations history, having been ratified by every member of the United Nations, with the exception of the United States.3 The vast majority of the Catholic Church’s child members live in countries which are also State Parties to the uncrc. Some live in State Party jurisdictions which have bilateral concordats or agreements with the Holy See of relevance to chil- dren’s rights.4 In many of those countries Catholic children and children of 1 unga, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (uncrc) was adopted 20 Nov. 1989. It entered into force 2 Sept. 1990. The Holy See is a State Party to the uncrc having signed and ratified on 20 April 1990 on behalf of the Vatican City State and the Holy See. The Holy See is a State Party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on children in armed conflict (opac) and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (opsc). It signed both on 10 Oct. 2000 and ratified both on 24 Oct. 2001. The Holy See is not a State Party to the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communication pro- cedure (opcp) adopted 19 Dec. 2011. The Holy See is a State Party to the UN Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (uncerd), adopted 21 Dec. 1965. It entered into force 4 Jan. 1969 and was ratified by the Holy See 01 May 1969. On 26 June 2002, in the name of the Vatican City State, the Holy See signed and ratified the UN Convention against torture and other cruel inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment (uncat) adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 Dec. 1983. It entered into force on 26 June 1987. 2 The Holy See became the fourth State Party to the uncrc. On ratifying the uncrc the Holy See entered three reservations and a declaration. 3 UN Treaty Collection, Depositary, Status of Treaties, Convention on the Rights of the Child as at 19 Sept. 2017 records 196 State Parties. 4 Cf. For example, the agreements between the Holy See and the Republic of Malta on church schools, 18 Feb. 1993 and on Catholic education in public Schools, 16 Nov. 1989; the agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia regarding their collaboration in the fields of education and culture 19 Dec. 1996. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���9 | doi:�0.��63/97890044���73_005 <UN> 346 Chapter 3 other faiths and none are receivers of educational and welfare services pro- vided by Catholic schools and other Catholic institutions.5 The uncrc sets out a list of children’s rights and State Party obligations regarding those rights which are voluntarily entered into by the State Party on ratifying the Convention. Each State Party to the uncrc undertakes to «respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction».6 State Parties are obliged to «undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights».7 These obligations are intended to ensure the realising of the uncrc rights within the domain of the individual State Party. State Parties must ac- count regularly to the uncrc monitoring body, the Committee on the Rights of the Child for progress in implementation «in the country concerned».8 As a State Party to the uncrc the Holy See is not a country nor is it a nor- mative territorial State Party although as part of its overall responsibilities it governs the Vatican City State which is a territorial State. The Holy See is a centuries old non-territorial spiritual entity, which is the centre of government of the world-wide Catholic Church. It describes itself as a «sovereign subject of international law having an original, non-derived legal personality indepen- dent of any territorial authority or jurisdiction».9 The term «Holy See» can re- fer to the Pope alone or to the Pope and the institutes of the Roman Curia (cf. can. 361). The Pope and the Curia are headquartered10 within the Vatican City State, founded in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty11 agreed between the Kingdom 5 Cf. Holy See, Secretariat of State, Central Office for Statistics of the Church, Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2015, 281–290. 6 uncrc, art. 2.1. 7 uncrc, art. 4. 8 uncrc, art. 44.1, b. 9 Holy See, Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of the Holy See on the uncrc, 4. 10 Cf. Created by the Lateran Treaty of 1929 signed 11 Feb. 1929, ratified 7 June 1929 between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, its official title under the law of Vatican City State and in Holy See documentation is Status Civitatis Vaticanae. Under Italian law, it is known as Stato della Città del Vaticano and in its anglicised version the Holy See refers to it as Vatican City State. 11 The Lateran Treaty 1929 (sometimes referred to as the Lateran Treaties, or Lateran Pact/s, or Lateran Accord/s) included a Treaty of Conciliation which created the Vatican City State, a Concordat governing church/state relations between the Holy See and the Italian State and an annexed Financial Convention detailing the compensation payable to the Holy See for the loss of the Papal States. Under the terms of the Lateran Treaty (Treaty of Conciliation art. 1) the «Catholic Apostolic Roman» religion was reaffirmed as the State religion, a principle established in the Italian Constitution of 1848 (art. 1). In 1947 the Later- an Treaty was incorporated into the Italian Constitution (art. 7). Art. 8 of the Constitution <UN>.
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