Child-Friendly Justice: Developing the concept of social court practices

ended

Children with mental disabilities, unaccompanied minors and children deprived of parental care (collectively: children with enhanced vulnerabilities) are some of the most vulnerable participants in criminal justice procedures, whether as victims or suspects. Prejudices and overly formal criminal justice procedures combine with a lack of knowledge and expertise of professionals to result in decision-making that fails to uphold the best interests of the child. The goal of this action to improve access to justice for children with enhanced vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system by developing and disseminating specialised models of individualised assessment of their needs in line with international and European law (CRC Art 12(2), CRPD Arts 7 and 13, CFEU Arts 20, 24 and 26, Directive 2012/29 Art 22 and Directive 2016/800 Art 7). The objectives are i) to research promising practices in each jurisdiction (outputs: 3 analytical reports – BG, IT, RO); ii) develop models on promoting child-friendly justice and individual assessments focused on target groups (outputs: 3 models, sets of tools - BG, IT, RO); iii) enhance the capacities of multidisciplinary teams of judges, lawyers, social workers and allied professionals (outputs: 4 x 3-day training in BG and RO, each for approx. 15 participants – total 120; 3 international webinar LABs with up to 150 participants; iv) to pilot the ‘social court’ model in BG); and iv) to cascade impact for children through cross-border collaboration and international dissemination (outputs: 3 x symposia – BG, IT, RO, approx 50 participants each; final conference – approx 80 participants; online dissemination). The results will be to improve the capacities of professionals trained to implement individual assessments and child-friendly justice. Longer term, targeted dissemination of the outputs will increase understanding of the specific needs of children with enhanced vulnerabilities by justice professionals across the EU and beyond.