Population: 1.3 million (355,000 under 18)
Government Armed Forces: 2,700
Compulsary Recruitment Age: no conscription
Voluntary Recruitment Age: 16
Voting Age: 18
Optional Protocol: not signed
Other Treaties: GC AP I, GC AP II, CRC, ILO 138, ILO 182, ICC

No information was available on whether any under-18s were serving in the armed forces.

Government:

National recruitment legislation and practice

There was no conscription.1 The minimum age of recruitment to the regular armed forces was 18, and to the reserve 25.2 Candidates for the regular forces between the ages of 16 and 18 had to have written parental or guardian consent.3 From 1985 the government had reported to the International Labour Organization (ILO) that in practice there had been no recruitment of under-18s. However, it repeatedly failed to follow the ILO recommendation to amend the Defence Act so as either to fix the legal minimum age at 18 or to allow a child under the age of 18 who had been recruited to choose to leave the service on reaching 18, in line with similar regulations applicable to recruits to the cadet force.4

Military training and military schools

Boys and girls of secondary-school age could join the cadet force, open to children and young people aged 12-19, which aimed to give "mental, moral and physical training".5 Those wishing to enrol had to have parental consent.6 There were approximately 40 secondary-schools in the cadet force system and school students made up nearly 90 per cent of the membership. Courses included first aid, rifle target-shooting and navigation. The cadet force provided assistance in times of national disaster, such as hurricanes.7

Developments:

In March 2006 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the government ratify the Optional Protocol.8

International standards

Trinidad and Tobago ratified the ILO Minimum Age Convention 138 in September 2004.

1 Second periodic report of Trinidad and Tobago to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/83/Add.12, 15 November 2004, para. 246.

2 Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, www.ttdf.mil.tt.

3 Defence Act, No. 7 of 1962, Chapter 14:01, http://rgd.legalaffairs.gov.tt.

4 International Labour Organization (ILO) Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR), Individual Direct Request concerning Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) Trinidad and Tobago (ratification: 1963) Submitted: 2006 – Trinidad and Tobago, ILO, www.ilo.org/ (ilolex database). See also Regulation 27 of the Cadet Force Regulations, subsidiary legislation under the Cadet Force Act, Chapter 14:02, http://rgd.legalaffairs.gov.tt.

5 Tranquillity Government Secondary-school, Extra-curricular Activities, www.tranquillity.edu.tt.

6 Cadet Force Act, No. 28 of 1963.

7 "Developing nation's youth", Trinidad Guardian, 7 June 2005, www.guardian.co.tt.

8 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Consideration of second periodic report submitted by Trinidad and Tobago, Concluding observations, UN Doc. CRC/C/TTO/CO/2, 17 March 2006.

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