RIYADH: Fifteen Shoura Council members Tuesday opposed the council's majority vote to set the age limit of children at 18, demanding a revote on the draft regulation for child protection. The Shoura Council decided Monday that young people are considered children until they reach the age of 18. The opposing Shoura Council members argued that the decision sharply differed from the opinion of the Council's Social Affairs, Family and Youths Committee, which set the child age at 15. The committee had based its decision on a Shariah research defining the age of puberty, the opponents said. The 26-article Child Protection Regulation stipulates protection of children from harm or threat, which include physical, psychological and sexual forms. It specifies that parents or guardians are responsible for the upbringing of children and their education. However, the definition of a child under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) covers all human beings under the age of 18 unless the relevant national law recognizes an earlier age of majority. There are no definitions of other terms used to describe young people such as “adolescents”, “teenagers” or “youth” in international law.
