The Child and Weapon: Historical and Legal Aspects

The author analyzes historical facts of involving children in military affairs and armed conflicts. The author comes to the conclusions that classical international law lacks rules on preventing the children involvement into armed conflicts and provides children protection only in the context of the non-combatants protection. During the Ist and IInd World Wars there arose such a phenomenon as children soldiers. Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1924 did not created an effective mechanism for preventing the children involvement into armed conflicts. This goal was partially achieved only with the adoption of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention and Additional Protocol1 to it. Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the children involvement into armed conflicts, ILO Convention No 182 and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court today constitute a mechanism preventing the involvement of children in armed conflicts. It is offered on nationally level to criminalize the involvement of children in armed conflicts and ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court for prosecution of persons accused of the children involvement in armed conflict