Maldives Faces Scrutiny at UN Child Rights Review Over Criminal Responsibility Age

The Maldives has undergone scrutiny over its child protection framework during a review of its sixth and seventh combined periodic reports under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, with United Nations experts welcoming recent legal reforms while raising concerns over proposals to lower the age of criminal responsibility.

The review was conducted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva from 12 to 13 January, examining the Maldives’ implementation of its obligations under the Convention between 2016 and 2021. The Maldives has been a party to the Convention since 1991.

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According to the meeting summaries by the United Nations Office at Geneva, during the sessions, committee experts commended the Maldives for adopting key legislation, including the Child Rights Protection Act and the Juvenile Justice Act in 2019.

Hynd Ayoubi Idrissi, a committee expert and taskforce coordinator for the Maldives, welcomed the new laws and congratulated the country on adopting the Optional Protocol to the Convention on a communications procedure, noted the office in its meeting summaries. 

The details further state that though the Maldives was commended on some legislation, experts also raised concerns about a proposed initiative to reduce the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12. Committee member Mary Beloff questioned whether the proposal, which she said would make the justice system more punitive, had garnered sufficient support and safeguards. 

Introducing the report, Attorney General Ahmed Usham, who led the Maldivian delegation, said the enactment of the Child Rights Protection Act and the Juvenile Justice Act marked the most significant transformation in the country’s child rights framework. He said the legislation guaranteed children’s rights to education and healthcare, prohibited child marriage, set the age of criminal responsibility at 15, introduced safeguards against corporal punishment and banned the death penalty for children.

Press Release: Maldives participates at the Review of the Maldives’s 6th – 7th combined periodic reports submitted under the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Link: https://t.co/lIvJAEegp8 pic.twitter.com/8J7as2sqyQ— AG Office Maldives (@AGOmv) January 14, 2026

The delegation told the committee that authorities faced challenges in addressing cases involving children aged between 12 and 15 who were engaged in criminal activity, noting that around 150 such cases had already been recorded. It said this had prompted consideration of lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 12, while introducing strict limitations to prevent punitive measures against children in that age group.

The Maldivian delegation included Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusaan, along with senior officials from the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social and Family Development, the Ministry of Education, and the Maldives’ Permanent Mission to the UN Office at Geneva.The Committee on the Rights of the Child will issue its concluding observations on the Maldives’ report at the end of its 100th session on 30 January.