UNICEF, EU and Montenegro's Government Promote Rehabilitation of Children in Conflict with the Law
Podgorica, June 15, 2009 - According to the article 40 of the UN CRC, children in conflict with the law have the right to “treatment that promotes their sense of dignity and worth”. States are required to promote a distinctive system of juvenile justice for children with specific positive rather than punitive aims; and to have a variety of alternatives to institutional care available to ensure that children are dealt with in a manner appropriate to their well being and proportionate to both their circumstances and the offence. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), children in conflict with the law have the right to treatment that promotes their sense of dignity and worth, takes into account their age and aims at their reintegration into society. Placing these children in a closed facility should be a measure of last resort. By signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Montenegro has committed to promote the rights and freedoms of the child through establishing a legal framework and adequate institutions and mechanisms for implementing the provisions of the Convention. Also, Montenegro has committed to meet the criteria for EU accession and judiciary reform and progress in the rule of law make the core of the political criteria. Within juvenile justice system reform in Montenegro, alternatives to the judicial proceeding for juvenile offenders have been introduced into the legal system. As a result, the court or the prosecutor general can impose alternative measures to the juvenile for a crime punished by a fine or up to 5 years in prison. In order for this to happen, prosecutors need to learn about the benefits of alternative measures, which is the aim of the round table organized by UNICEF, Ministry of Justice and European Commission in Podgorica today. "Children in conflict with the law should be diverted from the usual formal procedure whenever there are reasons to believe that participation in a non-custodial community based programme is likely to help the child’s rehabilitation and prevent re-offending.” Noala Skinner, UNICEF Montenegro Representative UNICEF attaches great importance to alternative ways of resolving cases involving offences committed by children. “Children in conflict with the law should be diverted from the usual formal procedure whenever there are reasons to believe that participation in a non-custodial community based programme is likely to help the child’s rehabilitation and prevent re-offending.” said Ms. Noala Skinner, UNICEF Montenegro Representative while appealing to Montenegro’s prosecutors to “implement as widely as possible and feasible mediation between the offender and the victim”. UNICEF brought in an expert from Slovenia, Alenka Mežnar, retired State Prosecutor, to present this country’s positive experience in applying mediation to juvenile cases. Alternative measures can be applied to more than 90% of juvenile cases in Montenegro according to Mr. Miras Radovic, Minister of Justice. Alternative measures can be applied to more than 90% of juvenile cases in Montenegro according to Mr. Miras Radovic, Minister of Justice. According to Ms. Ranka Carapic, Supreme State Prosecutor, application of alternative ways to resolve cases with juveniles is the future of juvenile justice in Montenegro. “Separate Juvenile Justice Code is planned to be ready for application by the end of 2010.” The aim of the reform of juvenile justice system is to establish legal preconditions for protection of the rights of children at risk and those in conflict with the law according to Ms. Vesna Medenica, President of the Supreme Court. In her opinion, this will be achieved through: the production of a separate Juvenile Justice Code in harmony with international standards; trainings for professionals; and development of local teams for application of alternative measures to juvenile cases. Juvenile justice reform is not only significant for Montenegro to meet the EU accession criteria, but also because “children do need special treatment, care and protection, particularly when in conflict with the law” according to Mr. Nicola Bertolini, Head of Operations of the EC Delegation to Montenegro. For these reasons, the first IPA grant that Montenegro received from the EC was used for funding the project “Juvenile Justice System Reform”. Half a million euros are invested by the EC for this purpose. “For the European Commission, UNICEF is the partner possessing an exclusive competence in working with children to ensure their rights as per the international standards” added Mr. Bertolini. "For the European Commission, UNICEF is the partner possessing an exclusive competence in working with children to ensure their rights as per the international standards.” Nicola Bertolini, Head of Operations of the EC Delegation to Montenegro The round table is part of the project “Reform of the Juvenile Justice System” implemented by the government of Montenegro since October 2008 with help from UNICEF and financial support from the European Commission worth 500.000 euros. It has three main objectives: to increase the number of children at risk benefiting from programmes that will prevent them from coming into conflict with the law; to improve the treatment of children who already came into conflict with the law; and to increase the availability of community-based alternatives like Victim/Offender Mediation and Community Based Work for Juveniles.
Round table for prosecutors on alternative measures for juvenile offenders
Noala Skinner, UNICEF Montenegro Representative, appealing to Montenegro's prosecutors to "implement as widely as possible and feasible mediation between the offender and the victim"
Miras Radovic, Minister of Justice, opening the round table on implementation of alternative measures for juvenile offenders
Nicola Bertolini, Head of Operations of the EC Delegation to Montenegro, opening speech on the significance of JJ reform for meeting the EU accession criteria Leaflet on juvenile justice reform in Montenegro |
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