Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Belarus (Ratification: 1979)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its reports under Conventions 79 and 90 to the effect that under the Labour Code of the Republic of Belarus it is unlawful to conclude a work contract with a juvenile of less than 16 years of age. Section 173 of the Code authorizes the conclusion of contracts with persons of over 14 years of age subject to the written consent of a parent or persons acting in loco parentis.

The Committee also notes the information supplied by the Government in its report submitted under article 44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/3/Add.14) to the effect that Parliament passed the Rights of the Child Act at its first reading. Section 2 of the above Act provides that the Act is, "after the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, the basis of other legislation relating to the rights and interests of children". The Committee notes that under section 21(1) of the above Act, the child "may with the consent of the parents or persons acting in loco parentis be admitted to suitable employment, combined with his or her studies, from the age of 12". It also notes the Government's explanations in the above-mentioned report that the minimum age for admission to employment was set at 12 years on the basis of physiological and medical data which indicate that the small muscles of the hand are fully formed at this age. The Government also refers to a poll carried out in 1990 in the former Soviet Union by the staff of the Child Research Institute of the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, which put the optimum age for admission to wage earning at 12 years.

The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether the Rights of the Child Act, adopted by Parliament at its first reading, has been promulgated, and to provide a copy of it. It asks the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure observance of the provisions of the Convention which provides for an exemption from the minimum age for admission to work for persons of 13 to 15 years of age, engaged in light work (Article 7 of the Convention).

[The Government is asked to report in detail for the period ending 30 June 1994.]