EuropeAid1 Child-friendly Justice Seminar "Justice, democracy and the rule of law" Brussels, June 2013 Marina Marchetti Head of Sector "Gender equality and non-discrimination DEVCO B1

EuropeAid2 Content: What is child-friendly justice? International Standards EU and child-friendly justice Child-friendly justice programming Where to go to find information

EuropeAid3 Child-friendly justice Children (anyone below the age of 18 years old) can come in contact with the legal system in many different ways. "Child-friendly justice” : justice systems which guarantee the respect and the effective implementation of all children's rights at the highest attainable level, respecting CRC fundamental principles and keeping in mind the child’s level of maturity and understanding and the circumstances of the case. It is accessible, age appropriate, speedy, diligent, adapted to and focused on the rights and needs of the child, respecting the rights of the child including the rights to due process, to participate in and to understand the proceedings, to respect for private and family life and to integrity and dignity. (CoE definition)

EuropeAid4 International Standards 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its two optional protocols Crc Article 40 on administration of juvenile justice Interpretations of the contents in the CRC and the optional protocols are found in the General Comments of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

EuropeAid5 EU and child-friendly justice ’An EU agenda for the rights of the child’ (2011) highlights 11 actions that will contribute to making justice systems within the EU more child-friendly, and to improving children's well-being One of the actions is to promote the use of the CoE "Guidelines on child-friendly justice" The policies and standards that are applied within the EU should also serve as the basis for the work that is done in external actions

EuropeAid6 CoE Guidelines fundamental principles: A. Participation B. Best interests of the child C. Dignity D. Protection from discrimination E. Rule of law

EuropeAid7 Fundamental principles (2): B. Best interests of the child 1. National authority should guarantee the effective implementation of the right of children to have their best interests be a primary consideration in all matters involving or affecting them. 2. In assessing the best interests of the involved or affected children: a.their views and opinions should be given due weight; b.all other rights of the child, such as the right to dignity, liberty and equal treatment should be respected at all times; c.a comprehensive approach should be adopted by all relevant authorities so as to take due account of all interests at stake, including psychological and physical well-being and legal, social and economic interests of the child. 3. While the judicial authorities have the ultimate competence and responsibility for making the final decisions, concerted efforts should be make to establish multidisciplinary approaches with the objective of assessing the best interests of children in procedures involving them.

EuropeAid8 Fundamental principles (3): C. Dignity 1. Children should be treated with care, sensitivity, fairness and respect throughout any procedure or case, with special attention for their personal situation, well-being and specific needs, and with full respect for their physical and psychological integrity. This treatment should be given to them, in whichever way they have come into contact with judicial or non-judicial proceedings or other interventions, and regardless of their legal status and capacity in any procedure or case. 2. Children shall not be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

EuropeAid9 Fundamental principles (4): D. Protection from discrimination 1. The rights of children shall be secured without discrimination on any grounds such as sex, race, colour or ethnic background, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, socio- economic background, status of their parent(s), association with a national minority, property, birth, sexual orientation, gender identity or other status. 2. Specific protection and assistance may need to be granted to more vulnerable children, such as migrant children, refugee and asylum seeking children, unaccompanied children, children with disabilities, homeless and street children, Roma children, and children in residential institutions.

EuropeAid10 Fundamental principles (5): E. Rule of law 1. The rule of law principle should apply fully to children as it does to adults. 2. Elements of due process such as the principles of legality and proportionality, the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, the right to legal advice, the right to access to courts and the right to appeal, should be guaranteed for children as they are for adults and should not be minimised or denied under the pretext of the child’s best interests. This applies to all judicial and non-judicial and administrative proceedings. 3. Children should have the right to access appropriate independent and effective complaints mechanisms.

EuropeAid11 CoE general elements for child friendly justice:  Information and Advice  Protection of private and family life  Safety (special preventive measures)  Training of professionals  Multidisciplinary approach  Deprivation of liberty

EuropeAid12 Child-friendly Justice Programming Focus on: Prevention, which entails understanding offending behaviours and how they can be prevented; and/or Protection, the measures that must be taken to protect children that come into contact with the legal system, i.e. the formal administration of justice Rehabilitation, which entails ensuring that children that come into contact with legal system are given the necessary support and tools to prepare for life after custody Reintegration, which entails ensuring that children that have been institutionalised can successfully reintegrate into society

EuropeAid13 Child-Right mainstreaming in policy and programmes How to integrate and ‘operationalise’ a child rights approach in…. ….development programming? ….policy dialogue? ….budgeting? ….country and sector context analysis? ….project identification, formulation, implementation and evaluation?

EuropeAid14 Toolkit for Child-Right mainstreaming in development cooperation

15 Entry points for CR mainstreaming 1. Programming 4. Implementation 5. Evaluation + Audit 2. Identification 3. Formulation NIP CSP Identification fiche Screening Checklist Financing agreement Action fiche Screening Checklist Annual Operational Plans Monitoring Reports Evaluation Report Audit Country (or Sector) Profile Indicators Impact assessment Monitoring 3. Formulation

EuropeAid16 Examples of child-friendly justice reform Ensuring that law is clear on the issue that children only should be deprived of their liberty as last resort and for the shortest period possible Ensuring that anti-social behavior is dealt with by social agencies rather than the justice system Ensuring that the age of criminal responsibility is not too low Ensure that there is a separate legal/court system for children

EuropeAid17 Examples … cont. All actors involved in processes concerning children and justice must be properly trained: police officers, prosecutors, judges, lawyers and social workers … On the basis of the role that the child has in the legal process (victim, witness, offender, complainant, asylum seeker), adequates measure shall be adopted to respect and promote his/her rights Even more specific training to integrate gender issues (girl child).

EuropeAid18 Child participation in justice programmes Participation is : a programming principle, and a principle of child-friendly justice Children should be at the centre of child-friendly justice programming, to ensure that programmes reflect the actual needs and priorities of children that come into contact with the legal system Experiences of children who have been through the legal system provide valuable insights into what needs to be done to reform these systems

EuropeAid19 Example – child participation In Bangladesh, 14 street children took part in a consultation process over a two-year period aiming at documenting the views and experiences of the children who had been either in jail or other forms of incarceration. The consultation process included the children themselves, other children and NGOs. The results of the consultations, additional research in jails and other correctional centres and a video that was made were discussed in various workshops. The research resulted in recommendations to a wide range of audiences: parents, government departments, the police, the courts, jail authorities, NGOs, the media, politicians, and other children.

EuropeAid20 Where to go to find information UN Committee on the Rights of the Child CRC: EC-Justice website for Child-friendly justice: justice/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/rights-child/friendly- justice/index_en.htm Council of Europe website on Child-friendly justice: EU Agency for Fundamental Rights website on child rights: