Mankayi, Akhona2026-07-282026-07-282025https://hdl.handle.net/10566/25047The recruitment and use of children in armed conflict remains one of the most persistent violations of international norms, despite a comprehensive international legal framework which prohibits this practice. The international legal framework spans international human rights law (IHRL), international humanitarian law (IHL), and international criminal law (ICL). While instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), its Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC), and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) define a child as anyone under 18, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) criminalises only the recruitment and use of children under 15. This age discrepancy creates a significant legal lacuna that leaves 15 to 17-year-olds in a zone of partial protection i.e no longer shielded under ICL yet still minors under IHRL and IHL. Nowhere are the stakes of this protection gap more visible than in armed conflicts across Africa, where the recruitment of children remains endemic. Despite the empirical reality that African children bear the brunt of these violations, international responses remain inadequate. This mini thesis interrogates the consequences of this normative inconsistency through an examination of leading jurisprudence, including Prosecutor v Thomas Lubanga and Prosecutor v Dominic Ongwen before the International Criminal Court (ICC), Prosecutor v Charles Taylor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), and Uganda v Thomas Kwoyelo before the International Crimes Division of Uganda (ICD). It seeks to demonstrate how divergent interpretations by the ICC, tribunals and domestic courts, reinforce the marginalisation of older child soldiers and expose the fractured state of the international legal framework. These inconsistencies undermine the best interests of the child principle and perpetuate impunity for recruiters who target children aged 15 to 17. This mini thesis contends that the failure of states and international institutions to prevent child recruitment is inextricably linked to their failure to prioritise prevention and uphold core child rights principles. The mini thesis advocates for the harmonisation of ICL with broader child rights frameworks, and calls for a reconceptualisation of child soldier protections, one that ensures the distinct vulnerabilities of all children are meaningfully recognised and protected in law and in practice.enChild soldier recruitmentcriminal accountabilitylegal lacunaRome StatuteInternational Criminal CourtThesis