A/HRC/12/3 page 5 territory and those residing in neighbouring French communes could accede to private employment under conditions laid down by Act No. 629 of 1957, regulating hiring and dismissal. Accordingly, some 45,000 persons living in France and Italy engaged in daily professional activity in Monaco with the same conditions of remuneration and social benefits as Monegasques. 16. The Constitution provided for the principle of freedom of association and the right to strike. 17. The Constitution guaranteed Monegasques the right to free primary and secondary education. However, children of any nationality benefited from primary and secondary education under the same conditions as Monegasques, in accordance with the Education Act No. 1334 of 2007. The Principality of Monaco had a system of scholarships available to a great many nationals and residents. 18. The Constitution guaranteed Monegasques the right to State assistance in respect of poverty, unemployment, sickness, invalidity, old age and maternity. However, the same rights were granted to foreign nationals when they met the conditions laid down by law. 19. Lastly, the right of assembly granted to Monegasques by the Constitution was extended to foreigners by virtue of Monaco laws and regulations. 20. In recent years, the Principality of Monaco had acceded to a number of international conventions; in 1993, it had become a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been incorporated into the Monegasque legal order. 21. Pursuant to that Convention, Act No. 1344 of 2007 prescribed aggravated penalties for persons responsible for crimes and offences against children with a view to ensuring conformity with the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Monaco was thus one of the countries most highly protective of the rights of the child. 22. The Monegasque authorities were studying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in order to assess its compatibility with the Monegasque legal order. A draft law on disabilities was being prepared to supplement the existing technical prescriptions. In addition, the post of Delegate for the Disabled with particular responsibility for disability issues had been created in 2006. Lastly, Act No. 1334 of 2007 provided for the integration of disabled children in ordinary schools. 23. International conventions penalized conduct prejudicial to the existence and exercise of human rights in the law of every State. To that end, the Principality of Monaco had acceded to most of the conventions governing money-laundering and financing of terrorism and had adopted numerous legislative provisions and regulations in conformity with international recommendations. 24. New types of offences had been provided for in the Criminal Code, penalties had been stiffened and the principle of automatic State compensation for victims of terrorism had been introduced.