Office of the Ombudsman, Samoa‘s National Human Rights Institution Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child – September 2015 Legislation as a result of a Baseline Research on Child Protection in Samoa.4 The report clearly highlights examples of inconsistencies of the definition of ―child‖ in domestic legislation:5 18.  The Infants Ordinance 1961. Ambiguity exists within the Act as it defines a ―child‖ as any infant under the age of sixteen years. Yet, the Act also refers to an ―infant‖ as a person under the age of 21 years;  A person under the age of 21 years is referred to as a ―minor‖ under the Acts Interpretation Act 1974;  Under the Marriage Ordinance 1961, the minimum age of marriage for females is sixteen 16 years, while for males it is 18;  The definition of child can also be found in the Fatal Accidents Act 19746. The term child is generally defined as to include a son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, stepson, stepdaughter and it includes a child out of wedlock, which is most commonly known as an illegitimate child. This Act does not provide for a specific age of a child but rather provides the above list of persons who are regarded as children.7 As a result of the SLRC report, the Child Care and Protection Bill was drafted for the purposes of the care and protection of children in Samoa and for the recognition and enforcement of the rights of children in a manner which is consistent with international conventions and standards. The Bill intends to standardise the minimum legal age for marriage for girls from 16 to 18 so that it is the same as the minimum age for boys. Furthermore, the Bill will harmonize the definition of child in all domestic legislation.8 Recommendation 2: The NHRI endorses the findings and recommendations of the SLRC’s Child Care and Protection Legislation Report with regards to the inconsistencies in the definition of a child in domestic legislation. The NHRI recommends that the Samoan Government include all the recommendations from the SLRC report into the Child Care and Protection Bill. Furthermore, the NHRI recommends 4 The Baseline Research on Child Protection in Samoa carried out in 2011 by Ministry of Women Community and Social Development in collaboration with UNICEF (United Nation International Children‘s Emergency Fund). 5 Samoa Law Reform Commission Final Report ‗Child Care and Protection Legislation, February 2013 http://www.samoalawreform.gov.ws/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Child-Care-and-ProtectionLegislation-Final-Report-Final.pdf [accessed at 10 September 2015]. 6 An Act relating to actions for damages on behalf of families of persons killed by accident 7 Samoa Law Reform Commission, Care and Protection Legislation to Protect Children, Issues Paper IP 03/09, December 2009, http://www.samoalawreform.gov.ws/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Care-andProtection-Legislation-to-Protect-Children-Issues-Paper.pdf [accessed 10 September 2015] p 11 8 Section 5 o f the Bill states that any law which relates to the rights of children, or which provides for processes relevant to dealing with children in any context, must be read and applied subject to the provisions of the Act, and in the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of the Act and of any other law, the provisions of the Act prevail. This effectively brings the definition of ‗child‘ in domestic legislation into conformity with the Convention 8