The international community recognises that children are subject to rights

The «Convention on Children’s Rights» (1989) is the first universal and multilateral treatise to consider children as subject to rights and not as passive objects of the right to protection, which is a turning point in the history of the social consideration of children. It is an international convention of a legally binding nature, so all the countries which ratify it must adapt their internal laws to what is established in the Convention’s articles. It is based on four principles: no discrimination; the child’s best interest; the right to live, to survival and to development; and participation. All are present throughout the text. It consists of a Prologue and 54 articles –which cover economic, social, cultural and civil rights- divided into three sections. The first, which includes articles 1 to 41, defines the rights which the international community recognises for all children without distinction. Likewise, it establishes its scope of application considering a child to be any person under the age of 18, unless the internal regulations of a country recognise legal age earlier. The second, articles 42 to 45, establishes a control mechanism for compliance with the Convention by such countries as ratify it, setting up the Committee of Children’s Rights and regulating the presentation of regular reports on the situation of children by each State. The third, which comprises articles 46 to 54, establishes –as in all international treaties- the conditions for implementation.