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A report on the findings from monitoring of court proceedings involving juveniles was presented and discussed in Yerevan today.

The report concerns 45 cases where juveniles were involved as defendants. It also analyses domestic legislation and practices, as well as co-operation between agencies, to reveal gaps with respect to enhancing the juvenile justice system and offer recommendations for improvement. The project was implemented by the Civil Society Institute non-governmental organization with the support of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

Vladimir Tchountoulov, the Human Rights Programme Officer at the OSCE Office in Yerevan, said: “Children who come in conflict with the law need a protective environment and not just from the government, but from all of society. Alongside prevention, policies should be in place to promote alternatives to deprivation of liberty. We very much hope that this report will be useful and instrumental for our Armenian counterparts in joining and redoubling their efforts to strengthen the protection of the rights and best interests of children.”

Participants also discussed a study on “Juvenile Justice in Armenia: Perspective of Children in Conflict with the Law”, conducted in co-operation with the Advanced Social Technologies NGO with the support of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. The study aimed to enhance child participation and assess the juvenile justice system from the point of view of children. It formed a part of the overall UNICEF-commissioned research on the “Assessment of Juvenile Justice Reform Achievements in Armenia” (http://www.osce.org/yerevan/84569)

Arman Danielyan, the President of Civil Society Institute NGO, said: “The rate of juvenile crime in Armenia is quite low in comparison to many other countries, but there is still a need to have a juvenile justice system in place where a different approach is taken towards young offenders. There is a need to have special judges, investigators, specialists during court proceedings, which is a system that has been used in other countries for a long time and has proven to be effective.”

Representatives of the judiciary, advocates, Prosecutor General’s Office, Office of the Human Rights Defender, civil society, and media participated in the event.

The monitoring was implemented in three main cities of Armenia, namely Yerevan, Vanadzor and Gyumri. Within the framework of the project the Office also supported a hotline to provide free legal advice to citizens, including juveniles and their relatives.