The 1990 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) set the legal minimum age for military recruitment at 15.
Cardinal O'Brien went on to say that the move was "gravely immoral" and contradicted the United Nation's convention on the rights of the child.
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It argues that this contravenes part of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, about participating fully in cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activities.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a "promise" made by the government to all children and young people under the age of 18 years.
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"My job is to stand up and speak out on behalf of children and to do that I use the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, " he said.
The provision of citizenship as a distinct, statutory subject helps to ensure that the UK is compliant with its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
To do so "disregards the definition" of a child in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the "preponderance of legislation affecting children and justice", the judge said.
Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the international Convention on the Rights of the Child, which bars the execution of offenders who were under 18 at the time of their crime.
Pakistan has signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits child labour, but officials argue that it's not easy to enforce the terms of the convention.
As a state that is party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran has undertaken not to execute child offenders.
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Children from around the world will speak out about their lives in a unique set of BBC programmes to mark the 10th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
She spoke during a day of events at UNESCO headquarters on November 26 devoted to street children and held to mark the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
These include such onerous and invasive agreements as the Law of the Sea Treaty, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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One reason for this is the greater emphasis worldwide given to the rights of the child, manifested most obviously in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which came into force in 1990.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women states in Article 14, para 2(h) that women have a right to adequate living conditions, including access to water, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child maintains in its article 24, para. 2 (c) that all children have a right to the highest attainable standard of health through the provision of adequate clean drinking water.
Ms Booth said the government would be found "wanting" in areas such as juvenile justice, education, asylum seekers and refugees when monitoring body the Committee on the Rights of the Child met in October to evaluate how Britain was implementing the Convention.
International cooperation and solidarity should be promoted to support the implementation of the Convention and the rights of the child should be a priority in the United Nations system-wide action on human rights.
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