International standards
International instruments
The treaties, rules and guidelines that set the international standard for how states treat children in conflict with the law. Some bind the states that ratify them; others are recommendations that carry weight through adoption and citation rather than through enforcement. The distinction matters, so it is marked on every entry.
No instruments published yet
The instrument records are published as they clear review.
How these are used on this site
Where a comparison measures a jurisdiction against an international standard — most often the minimum age of criminal responsibility against the minimum recommended by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child — the instrument is named and linked at the point of comparison. The standard is never presented as though it were law in the jurisdiction being described.
Minimum ages measured against the recommended minimum · Methodology
Reference information, not legal advice. Juvenile law varies by jurisdiction and changes often.