Population: 465,000 (104,000 under 18)
Government Armed Forces: 900
Compulsary Recruitment Age: no conscription
Voluntary Recruitment Age: 17
Voting Age: 18
Optional Protocol: ratified 4 August 2004
Other Treaties: GC AP I, GC AP II, CRC, ILO 138, ILO 182, ICC


The minimum age for recruitment was 17, and those under 18 were prohibited from participating in any military operation.

Government:

National recruitment legislation and practice

Compulsory military service was abolished in 1967. The amended Grand Ducal Regulation of 22 September 1967 established a minimum age of 17 for voluntary military service, and 17-year-olds entering the armed forces required the written consent of parents or a legal guardian. Approximately 20 per cent of those applying for voluntary military service were 17. The amended Military Act of 2 August 1997 stipulated that recruitment for peacekeeping operations would be on an exclusively voluntary basis, and limited participation in peacekeeping missions strictly to those who were 18 or older. Under the terms of the Act of 20 December 2002 (which amended the Military Organization Act), volunteer soldiers under 18 were prohibited from participating in any military operation. The prohibition applied to national defence as well as to participation in "operations of collective or common defence or in peacekeeping operations". All of the above provisions were also included in the declaration made by Luxembourg on ratifying the Optional Protocol in August 2004. The declaration stated that full information about military duties would be given to recruits prior to their recruitment into the armed forces, and that all voluntary recruits were permitted to leave the armed forces at any time.1

Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR):

Luxembourg continued to make an annual contribution of €25,000 to the funding of the Office of the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. It had also given support to a UNICEF project working with child soldiers in Burundi.2

Developments:

At a February 2007 ministerial meeting in Paris, Luxembourg and 58 other states endorsed the Paris Commitments to protect children from unlawful recruitment or use by armed forces or armed groups and the Paris Principles and guidelines on children associated with armed forces or armed groups. The documents reaffirmed international standards and operational principles for protecting and assisting child soldiers and followed a wide-ranging global consultation jointly sponsored by the French government and UNICEF.


1 Initial Report of Luxembourg to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on implementation of the Optional Protocol, UN Doc. CRC/C/OPAC/LUX/1, 6 November 2006.

2 Ibid.

Disclaimer:

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.