Child Soldiers Global Report 2008 - Slovakia
| Publisher | Child Soldiers International |
| Publication Date | 20 May 2008 |
| Cite as | Child Soldiers International, Child Soldiers Global Report 2008 - Slovakia, 20 May 2008, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/486cb12e25.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| 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. |
Population: 5.4 million (1.1 million under 18)
Government Armed Forces: 15,200
Compulsary Recruitment Age: 18 (conscription abolished in 2006)
Voluntary Recruitment Age: 18
Voting Age: 18
Optional Protocol: ratified 7 July 2006
Other Treaties: GC AP I, GC AP II, CRC, ILO 138, ILO 182, ICC
Conscription was abolished in 2006. There were no reports of under-18s serving in the armed forces.
Government:
National recruitment legislation and practice
The transition to a non-conscript armed force was completed and conscription was abolished in 2006. However, in cases of military emergency or state of war, the armed forces could recruit men above the age of 18. National legislation did not permit any authority to recruit under-18s for any armed forces.1
Military training and military schools
There were three military colleges and a police academy.2
Developments:
At a February 2007 ministerial meeting in Paris, Slovakia 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.
International standards
Slovakia ratified the Optional Protocol in July 2006. Its declaration stated that anyone serving professionally in the armed forces was required to be 18.3
1 Communication from the embassy of Slovakia, London, March 2007.
2 Embassy of Slovakia, London, United Kingdom, http://dev.dracon.biz/embassy.
3 Optional Protocol, Declarations and reservations, www2.ohchr.org.
