Expected Results
- Increased provision of training for defence lawyers representing child suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings by training bar associations and other legal training providers to use the toolkit and replicable training programme to train lawyers across the EU.
- Increased capacity of lawyers effectively to represent child suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings, by delivering national training workshops which provide lawyers in Hungary and Romania with the skills and confidence to represent children, contributing to an increased availability of such representation.
- Stronger networks created between defence lawyers and experts from other relevant disciplines, by providing networking opportunities between defence lawyers, social workers and child psychologists with whom they can work closely to protect the rights of child suspects and defendants; by facilitating the sharing of experience and ideas between and within different Member States; and by contributing to improved juvenile justice expertise within the existing LEAP network.
- Increased awareness of the systemic challenges faced in practice by child suspects and defendants and increased capacity of lawyers to use strategic and innovative approaches to tackle them: insights into what lawyers and other experts perceive to be the systemic challenges faced by child suspects and defendants will be gathered through the EU-wide survey, research and during the regional conference. On top of this, the training courses will increase the capacity of defence lawyers to use international and regional standards, including the EU Directive, to address these challenges in higher domestic, regional and international manner.
- Strengthened respect for the rights of child suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings, by ensuring that defence lawyers are fully equipped to use the new EU Directive, along with other international and regional standards, in strategic and innovative ways in practice to achieve impact.
