The German Government decided to revoke the caveat against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Cabinet voted on the 3rd of may 2010 to finally ratify the CRC without reservation concerning the procedural rights of minors, ending 18 years of discrimination against non-German youth. Germany was unique in treating minors of 16 and older the same as adults when it came to the application of immigration and asylum laws. That special treatment included even detaining young people of 16 years (or officially declared to be of that age) in deportation prisons and confining them together with adults.
Now, a number of provisions of the immigration, asylum and social laws need to be adapted to international standards.