Seminar on juvenile justice
Statement by Mr. Youssouf Oomar, Resident Representative
Abidjan, 22 November 2007
Distinguished Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General to Côte d’Ivoire,
Distinguished Principal Secretary of the Minister of Justice,
Distinguished Judges of the Network of Magistrates Friends of Children and the PARQUET,
Distinguished Captain of the Criminal Investigations Department,
Distinguished Representative of the Judicial Protection of Children and the Youth,
Distinguished Director of the Prisons Administration,
Distinguished Director General of Human Rights and the Prison Administration,
Distinguished Representatives of the Ministry of the Family, Women and Social Affairs,
Distinguished Lawyers of the Bar,
Distinguished Friends of the Civil Society,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The crisis is over, peace is here.
The time to make progress and resume social development projects has come.
As always, we are here to remind you that children need to be protected against all types of abuse, violence and exploitation.
During these past years, there has been a lot of talk about children associated with armed groups, child victims of trafficking, children abandoned or raped; children who were victims of the crisis and a fragile and divided society.
Today, the phase of transition to development initiated by Côte d’Ivoire calls for the analysis of certain thematics that were shelved, because of the crisis.
The current process of redeployment of the administration offers us the opportunity to start reflecting on possible interventions to be undertaken to ensure the gradual restoration of the Rule of law on the entire national territory.
This morning, we are going to talk about children in conflict with the law, who are also a weakness on the part of the society, which could not protect them from tortuous situations.
As children, they are vulnerable and have rights conferred on them by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
From the purely technical point of view, the expression “child in conflict with the law” refers to any young person aged under 18 years who is in contact with the judicial system, after being suspected or accused of having committed an offence.
But, at the social and human level, we should not forget that most children in conflict with the law come from poor communities, have no access to school, have been victims of violence and abuse, and often members of minorities who suffer discrimination.
Moreover, the offences are generally minor offences; since the latter are relative to the status of the person (truancy, abandonment of the home, alcohol consumption, etc.) and/or survival behaviours (begging, wandering, vagrancy), acts that are not considered as criminal offences when they are committed by adults.
For this reason, children in conflict with the law are highly vulnerable persons, who are torn between marginalization and the possibility of becoming productive adults capable of playing a constructive role within the society.
UNICEF considers that the issue of juvenile justice should be governed by the basic principle of “restorative justice”, focused on recuperating the person, instead of “retributive justice”, focused on punishing the author of the offence.
Retributive justice pays greater attention to the offence itself rather than the people implicated in it. Most often, this justice is not applied in the best interest of the victim, the author or of the society in general.
On the other hand, restorative justice is based on 4 pillars that constitute the strategic orientations of UNICEF:
1. Prevention: to prevent children from getting into conflict with the law in the first place;
2. Diversion: to guarantee for minors, at every stage of the procedure, the possibility of an alternative solution to the formal judicial system: the mediation between victim and delinquent, family conferences, description or offer of care by social services, cessation programmes, works of public utility, etc.
3. Redress: in case the recourse to the formal judicial system is necessary, to ensure that it is in conformity with international standards, focused in particular on the best interests of the child and social integration;
4. Priority recourse to alternative sanctions, such as probation, fines, works of public utility; intermediate treatment measures such as mandatory supervision, placement in an open family or institutional environment; traditional alternative measures such as group or family conferences.
In any case, detention in prison should only be used as a final resort and for the shortest possible period.
In conclusion, I would like you to start today’s debate with the inspiring principle of restorative justice, bearing in mind that children are the future of Côte d’Ivoire and that it is the duty of all of us to offer them other alternatives.
As I usually say, the place of a child is not in the prison; it is in the classroom surrounded by the love and protection of his family.
I hope that this seminar will contribute to make the Ivorian judicial system one that is a friend of children, one that guarantees the respect of their basic rights.
Thank you.
