The Protection of the Minor Under Cameroon Criminal Law: An Appraisal
Keywords:
Protection, Minor, Cameroon Criminal LawAbstract
The protection of persons under domestic criminal law is considered primordial for the legislators of many countries, not being an exception, in principle, birth is the beginning of the acquisition of legal rights in Cameroon. Cameroon being a country in central Africa has signed and ratified many international conventions and implement several national laws to protect minors. Despite the rich legal and international framework applicable in Cameroon for the promotion and protection of minors, we still witness constant and persistent criminal offenses committed against minors in Cameroon as a result of the poor implementation of these laws. It is as a result of these short comings that we are inviting the government and the stakeholders to embark on the establishment of structures and to ensure effectiveness in the enforcement of the protection of minors and to overcome the current weakness that the country is experiencing.
References
1. Among these conventions and international treaties signed by Cameroon, we can cite; the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child of 1989, United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the administration of Juvenile justice (The Beijing Rules). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 10 December 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN General Assembly Resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989 and entered into force on 2 September 1990) ratified by Cameroon on the 11 January 1993, the African Charter on Rights and Welfare of the Child commonly called African Children's Charter (Adopted by the OAU Assembly of Heads of States and Governments on 11 July 1990, and came into force on 29 November 1999) ratified by Cameroon on 5 September 1997, African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights called African Charter (Adopted by the OAU Assembly of Heads of States and Governments on 17 July 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986) ratified by Cameroon on 20 June 1989.
2. Law n°. 2016/007 of July 12, 2016, relating to the Penal Code, Law n°. 2005/007 of 27th July 2005 on the Criminal Procedure Code of Cameroon.
3. Right to life, freedom from torture, freedom from enslavement and prohibition from all forms of human trafficking.
4. Article 1 of the 1989 Convention on the rights of the child.
5. Mary C. The protection of vulnerable group. p. 396. Downloaded from Elgar online at 10/29/2019, 10:39:10am via Sydney University. V olume 7, Issue 1
6. Section 80 of the Cameroon penal Code which stresses that “(1) No criminal responsibility shall arise from the act or omission of a person aged less than ten years. (2) An offence committed by a person aged not more than 10 years and not less than fourteen years may attract only such special measure as may by law be provided. (3) For an offence committed by a person aged over fourteen and under eighteen years responsibility shall be diminished. (4) A person aged eighteen years or over shall be responsible as an adult. (5) The age relevant to this section shall be that attained at the date of the commission.” Also, Sections 704-705 of the Cameroon Criminal Procedure Code provide d for that, “A minor of twelve (12) to fourteen (14) years of age shall not be remanded in custody, except when he is accused of capital murder or of assault occasioning death. A minor aged between fourteen (14) and eighteen (18) may be remanded in custody only if this measure is considered indispensable.”
7. Cassation assemblée plénière , 11 November 2000. Arret n°. 457, consulted online on the 29 December 2023 at www.courdecassation.fr/arrets/visu.cfm.
8. Punishes abortion and protect the unborn child with an imprisonment from fifteen days to one year and a fine of 5000 to 200000 francs.
9. Abortion and assault on a woman with child.
10. Humanium. (n.d.) Infanticide. [Online] Available at http://www.humanium.org/en/infanticide [Accessed on April 2024].
11. Section 340 of the Cameroon Penal Code.
12. A felony in the wording of section 21 of the penal code shall mean an offence punishable with death or with loss of liberty for a maximum of more than 10 (ten) years and fine where the law so provides.
13. The People v. Sakwe Stephen (1987), Suit N° HCF/9.c/87.
14. Whoever by force or moral ascendency compels any person, whether above or below the age of puberty, to have sexual intercourse with him shall be punishable with imprisonment for from 5 (five) to 10 (ten) years.
15. Public Prosecutor v. Koh Rong Guang (2018) SGHC 117. In the High Court of Singapore, criminal case n°. 80 of 2017, Koh Rong Guang who is also known as Charles, a gang leader was sentence to 28 years imprisonment and 28 strokes of can for aggravated statutory rape on a 13-year-old girl.
16. Section 344 of the Penal Code.
17. Wikipedia. (n.d.). Kidnapping. [Online] Available at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/kidnapping. [Accessed on April 2024]
18. Simple theft. According to article 318 of the Penal Code , simple theft is sanctioned with an imprisonment from 5-10 years and with a fine of 100,000-1million frs CF A. the law N°90/061 of 19th December 1990, gives possibility to the judges to grant punishment that are lesser to that prevailed if, it is admitted that the delinquent can benefit from mitigating circumstances. In this case, he can either be punished for an imprisonment or the simple payment of a fine.
19. Aggravated theft.
20. Incapable of criminal intent.
21. NDOKO (N C), La cupabilité en droit pénal Camerounais, LGDI, 1985, p. 42.
22. Tabe S. A critical appraisal of the juvenile justice system under Cameroon ’s 2005 Criminal Procedure Code: emerging challenges. Potchefstroom Electronic Law J. 2012; 15 (1): 168.
23. In the wordings of this section, the examining magistrate may entrust the custody of a minor to: a) his parents, guardian, custodian or any other trustworthy person; b) a welfare centre or an observation home; c) any specialized institution; d) a vocational training or health centre.
24. Age of criminal maturity.
25. Kenneth Mbah v. The People, reported by Cameroon Herald, July 12-14, 1996, p. 5
26. 2023Mimi Mefo Info, publication of 27 December 2023 by Kate Bih December 27, 2023 Reading Time: 2 mins.
27. Section 709(1).
