Article 38 of the Russian Constitution provides for the state protection of motherhood, childhood and the family and states that caring for children shall be both a right and a responsibility for the parents of the child. In 1998 the Russian Federation adopted the Federal Law on the Main Guarantees of the Rights of the Child which outlines the rights of children in Russia including free health care, education and other rights provided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) (see UN-8.7-Migration and children). Children also have the right to free education under Article 43 of the Constitution until the age of 17. Mandatory education, until the age of 15, is compulsory under Article 43(4) of the Constitution.

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The number of homeless children is a concern in the Russian Federation. In February 2001, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted an order on Additional Measures to Improve the Prevention of Homelessness and Neglect among Juveniles for 2002, which aims to prevention the homelessness of children and their of involvement in inappropriate forms of labour and to protect their moral and physical health.

Trafficking in children from the Russian Federation has also remained a problem. There is no actual legislation in place yet to combat trafficking although there are means under criminal law to prosecute traffickers (see 8.11 – Migration and Crime). The Criminal Code prohibits the trade of children under Article 152, the crime is punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment, and 10 years if the removal of organs or tissues for transplantation are involved.

NGOs have continued to focus on the status of orphans and children with disabilities who live in state institutions having been removed from mainstream society. Recent statistics are not available however it is clear that the welfare of such children may not be adequately protected, and that insufficient recourse is available for abuses of their rights in such institutions. The rights of the Child Program had argued that it is necessary to establish an Ombudsman for the rights of children, with the power to enter children’s facilities unannounced. Such Ombudsmen were created in 2001 (see 8.9 – Legal Recourse) although with limited powers.

Children were detained in prisons and in pre-trial detention facilities; there is no prohibition of the detention of children as there is no separate system of justice for them in the Russian Federation. Children are detained separately in juvenile detention colonies.

Analysis provided by: Anisa Niaz LLM (Public Law), United Kingdom.

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