During the UN Social Committee on protection of children...

During the UN Social Committee on protection of children in armed conflict, the European Union made a special appeal to those countries which retained the death penalty for juvenile offenders who were under 18 at the time the crime was committed. It was important to bear in mind that the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had almost universal adherence, unreservedly prohibited the application of capital punishment for offences committed by persons below 18 years of age. It remained a key priority of the European Union to work towards the abolition of the death penalty.