UNTC

STATUS AS AT : 19-04-2024 11:19:57 EDT

CHAPTER IV

HUMAN RIGHTS

11 .d Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure

New York, 19 December 2011

Entry into force

14 April 2014, in accordance with article 19(1).

Registration

14 April 2014, No. 27531

Status

Signatories : 53. Parties : 52

Text

United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 2983, p. 135.
A/RES/66/138

Note

The above Protocol, which was adopted at the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations by resolution 66/138 of 19 December 2011, opened for signature in Geneva, Switzerland, on 28 February 2012 and remains open for signature thereafter at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Participant	Signature	Accession(a), Ratification
Albania	24 Sep 2012	29 May 2013
Andorra	26 Sep 2012	25 Sep 2014
Argentina	25 Jul 2012	14 Apr 2015
Armenia	26 Sep 2019	24 Mar 2021
Austria	28 Feb 2012
Belgium	28 Feb 2012	30 May 2014
Benin	24 Sep 2013	19 Aug 2019
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)		2 Apr 2013 a
Bosnia and Herzegovina	11 Jul 2017	17 May 2018
Brazil	28 Feb 2012	29 Sep 2017
Cabo Verde	24 Sep 2012
Chile	28 Feb 2012	1 Sep 2015
Costa Rica	28 Feb 2012	14 Jan 2014
Côte d'Ivoire	24 Sep 2013
Croatia	27 Dec 2013	18 Apr 2017
Cyprus	27 Jul 2012	11 Sep 2017
Czech Republic	30 Apr 2015	2 Dec 2015
Denmark ¹		7 Oct 2015 a
Ecuador	24 Apr 2013	19 Sep 2018
El Salvador	25 Jul 2013	9 Feb 2015
Finland	28 Feb 2012	12 Nov 2015
France	20 Nov 2014	7 Jan 2016
Gabon		25 Sep 2012 a
Georgia		19 Sep 2016 a
Germany	28 Feb 2012	28 Feb 2013
Ghana	24 Sep 2013
Guinea-Bissau	24 Sep 2013
Ireland	24 Sep 2014	24 Sep 2014
Italy	28 Feb 2012	4 Feb 2016
Kazakhstan	7 Feb 2023	7 Feb 2024
Liechtenstein	24 Sep 2012	25 Jan 2017
Lithuania	30 Sep 2015	3 Oct 2022
Luxembourg	28 Feb 2012	12 Feb 2016
Madagascar	24 Sep 2012
Maldives	28 Feb 2012	27 Sep 2019
Mali	28 Feb 2012
Malta	18 Apr 2012
Marshall Islands		29 Jan 2019 a
Mauritius	13 Aug 2012
Monaco		24 Sep 2014 a
Mongolia	4 Oct 2013	28 Sep 2015
Montenegro	28 Feb 2012	24 Sep 2013
Morocco	28 Feb 2012
New Zealand ²		22 Sep 2022 a
North Macedonia	23 May 2012
Panama		16 Feb 2017 a
Paraguay	26 Sep 2012	20 Jan 2017
Peru	28 Feb 2012	6 Jan 2016
Poland	30 Sep 2013
Portugal	28 Feb 2012	24 Sep 2013
Republic of Moldova		22 Sep 2023 a
Romania	13 Jun 2012
Samoa		29 Apr 2016 a
San Marino		26 Sep 2018 a
Senegal	1 Oct 2012
Serbia	28 Feb 2012
Seychelles	24 Sep 2013	7 Jun 2021
Slovakia	28 Feb 2012	3 Dec 2013
Slovenia	28 Feb 2012	25 May 2018
Spain	28 Feb 2012	3 Jun 2013
State of Palestine		10 Apr 2019 a
Switzerland		24 Apr 2017 a
Thailand	25 Sep 2012	25 Sep 2012
Tunisia		14 Dec 2018 a
Türkiye	24 Sep 2012	26 Dec 2017
Ukraine	20 Nov 2014	2 Sep 2016
Uruguay	28 Feb 2012	23 Feb 2015

Declarations and Reservations

(Unless otherwise indicated, the declarations and reservations were made
upon ratification, acceptance, accession or succession.)

Albania

Declaration:

“According to article 12, first paragraph of the Optional Protocol, the Republic of Albania hereby declares it accepts the competence of the committee to receive and examine the communications in which a State party claims that another State party does not meet its obligations under the instruments referred to in this paragraph [to] which the State is a party.”

Belgium

Upon Signature

Declaration:

“This signature engages also the French Community, the Flemish Community, the German-speaking Community, the Walloon Region, the Flemish Region and the Brussels-Capital Region.”

Upon Ratification

Declaration:

The Kingdom of Belgium recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to receive, pursuant to article 12 of the Optional Protocol, communications from a State party which claims that another State is not fulfilling its obligations.

Chile

Declaration:

The Republic of Chile declares, in accordance to article 12, entitled Inter-State Communications, of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, that it recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications in which a State party claims that another State party is not fulfilling its obligations under any of the following instruments to which the State is a party: the Convention; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflicts.

Czech Republic

20 May 2016

Pursuant to Article 12 (1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communication Procedure, the Czech Republic declares that it recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to receive and consider communications according to this article.

Finland

Declaration :

“The Republic of Finland declares that it recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider inter-state communications made against it provided for in Article 12 of the Protocol.”

Germany

Declaration:

“The Federal Republic of Germany recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications pursuant to Article 12(1) of the Optional Protocol.”

Italy

1 December 2016

Declaration:

“... pursuant to Article 12 (1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure, done at New York on 19 December 2011, the Italian Republic declares that it recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to receive and consider communications in which a State party claims that another State party is not fulfilling its obligations under the instruments referred to in this Article.”

Liechtenstein

Declaration:

"According to article 12 of the Optional Protocol from 19 December 2011 to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, the Principality of Liechtenstein declares that it recognises the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to receive and consider communications in which a State party claims that the Principality of Liechtenstein does not fulfil its obligations under any of the following instruments: the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, or the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography."

Monaco

Declaration:

Pursuant to Article 13, paragraph 7, of the Protocol, the Principality of Monaco wishes to indicate that it does not recognize the competence of the Committee provided for in the present article in respect of the rights set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Portugal

“The Portuguese Republic declares that it recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in accordance and for the purposes of article twelve of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, adopted in New York, on the nineteenth of December of two thousand and eleven.”

San Marino

17 May 2021

Declaration under article 12
The Republic of San Marino declares, in accordance with article 12 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, that it recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to receive and consider communications in which a State Party claims that the Republic of San Marino does not fulfil its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict or the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Slovakia

Declaration:

“The Slovak Republic recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to receive and consider communications pursuant to Article 12 (1) of the Optional Protocol.”

Slovenia

Declaration:

“Pursuant to Article 12, paragraph 1, of the said Protocol, the Republic of Slovenia declares that it recognises the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to receive and consider communications in which a State party claims that another State party is not fulfilling its obligations under the instruments in this paragraph.”

Switzerland

Declaration:

Pursuant to article 12 (1) of the Protocol, Switzerland recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications under this provision.

Türkiye

Declaration:

The Republic of Turkey declares with regard to the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child as provided for by the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, that the reservations and declarations it made to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in armed conflict and to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography fully retain their validity.

Ukraine

Declaration:

Ukraine states that for the period of temporary occupation of a part of the territory of Ukraine – the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol – as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation and until complete restoration of the constitutional order and effective control by Ukraine over such occupied territory, as well as over certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, the application and/or implementation by Ukraine of the obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, as applied to the aforementioned occupied and uncontrolled territory of Ukraine, is limited and is not guaranteed.

Objections

(Unless otherwise indicated, the objections were made
upon ratification or accession.)

Cyprus

14 September 2018

With regard to the declaration made by Turkey upon ratification:

“The Republic of Cyprus has examined the Declaration made by the Republic of Turkey on the 26th of December 2017, upon ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (2011), limiting the competence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to those States Parties which it recognizes and with which it has diplomatic relations. In the view of the Republic of Cyprus, this Declaration amounts to a Reservation.
To this effect, the Republic of Cyprus would like to state that the Objections it has made in respect of the Declarations/Reservations of Turkey with regard to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in armed conflict and to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, fully retain their validity and apply equally to the Reservation of Turkey in respect to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.”

End Note

1.With Territorial exclusion with regard to Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

2.With territorial exclusion in respect of Tokelau (See C.N.303.2022.TREATIES-IV.11.d of 22 September 2022.)