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The varying levels of implementation of international standards concerning children in conflict with the law have become a problem inherent in the field of Juvenile Justice, due to various reasons, with a lack of specific training in Juvenile Justice at both the EU and the local level being key. Current training methods in how Juvenile Justice stakeholders communicate with children in conflict with the law is somewhat lacking.

Therefore, the project ‘Improving Juvenile Justice Systems in Europe: Training for Professionals’, elaborated by the International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO), intends to provide information, knowledge and training to juvenile justice national authorities and staff working with juvenile offenders at a European level, in order to promote a better implementation of international standards concerning children in conflict with the law. It involves the IJJO think tank and formal network: the European Council of Juvenile Justice.

The project focuses on improving juvenile justice national systems and exchanging promising practices concerning juvenile offenders subject to sanctions or measures. It consists of training modules on the creation on child-friendly justice and follows a two part approach:

Training of trainers (national Juvenile Justice stakeholders) and,

National interdisciplinary workshops on child-friendly justice (for defender, social, healthcare professionals, penitentiary staff, etc).

The training of trainers focuses on capacity building for juvenile justice stakeholders and the content of national workshops will follow the recommendations of the IJJO White Paper ‘Save Money, Protect Society and Realise Youth Potential - Improving Youth Justice Systems during a Time of Economic Crisis’, in particular how and why assess the need of children in conflict with the law deprived of liberty, with a special interest in promoting alternative measures and restorative approaches.

The accent is given to the importance of developing individualised programs for children in conflict with the law, and developing specific knowledge for professionals concerning children rights, communication with children and preparation to the release.

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The different standards still in place within various Member States of the EU when it comes to detention conditions, prison management and supervision, as well as alternatives to detention, make it apparent that there is a need for an exchange of best practice and experience in the field between various actors, so as to facilitate a more coherent European approach in the matter, as envisaged by the Commission’s Green Paper and the European Parliament’s aim of standardising legislation on detention related matters throughout the EU. The needs this project therefore addresses are those of greater cooperation, understanding and exchange of information on a European level of matters relating to detention and improving conditions. The setting of training seminars provides an ideal platform for this, where the need for better detention standards, alternatives to imprisonment, the rehabilitation of offenders,  the proper implementation of relevant EU framework decisions in the field and better cooperation between prison monitoring bodies can be discussed, analysed and effective ways forward realised.

The project consists of three seminars that will be implemented in two different European cities, Strasbourg (France) and Trier (Germany).

The project ‘REVIJ - Reparation to the Victim in the European Juvenile Justice Systems: Comparative Analysis and Transfer of Best Practices’ aims to conduct a comparative of the measures provided for victims in the European juvenile justice systems, focusing on analyzing two aspects:

First, if these measures provided for victims comply with Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of The Council, of 25 October 2012, in establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime.

Second, the practices that are carried out in restorative services within the juvenile justice field, and the type of guarantees they offer to victims.

You can access the web section here.

Participation in legal proceedings places children at high risk of victimisation. Research from SAPI (Social Activities and Practices Institute – Bulgaria) showed that children are repeatedly interviewed about the same subject by police officers, social workers, investigators, experts, judges, etc., most of which have little child-oriented knowledge, and are not capable of correctly interrogating children. Medical examinations are still conducted without consideration for the child’s specific needs, which carries a high risk for secondary victimisation, especially in sexual abuse cases. Overall, research shows that child victims or witnesses of crime’s rights to information, accompaniment and support are not at all guaranteed.

The project aims to improve the situation of child victims or witnesses of crime in legal proceedings through an integrated approach. In support of programme priority “Supporting victims of crime”, the project promotes the use of the 2012 Directive on minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, “in order to improve mutual trust with the view to ensuring protection of rights of victims and of the accused”.

The project's final outcome is the production of a detailed model for multidisciplinary needs assessment and, on this basis, the development of an integrated approach for guaranteeing the child’s rights and best interests during their involvement in legal proceedings.

The target groups are:

1) Professionals involved in criminal procedures (police, prosecutors, judges) in Bulgaria, France, Italy and Romania, who will take part in educational activities to improve their attitudes and their capacity for guaranteeing the child’s rights in a multidisciplinary manner.

2) Professionals from the system of child protection; social service providers; forensic medicine specialists providing expertise and psycho-therapeutic support to child victims of crime in Bulgaria and France; and state policy makers, who will be introduced to an integrated approach to assessing and responding to the needs of children involved in criminal proceedings.

The project is scheduled to last 24 months. It started in May 2014 and will end in May 2016.

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The priority addressed by J.O.D.A project is Priority E – improving conditions relating to detention. In specific, it aims to identify good practice in alternative detention measures addressed to juvenile offenders inserted in the juvenile justice system taking into account these two key elements: the need of security coming from media and social society; the youth’s right to rehabilitation and re-inclusion.

The general approach of the project intends to assume the mutual learning and the close cooperation between partners at European and national level as critical success factor for the implementation of the activities. The methodology that will be used in developing different WPS will focus firstly on a desk and benchmarking analysis of the different contexts and legal frameworks in the involved Member States in relation to detention alternatives targeted to Juvenile in conflict with the law.

Please go to the J.O.D.A web section for further information about this project, clicking this link.