Children First, Autumn 2007: Hand in Hand for Children

The process of Turkey’s accession to the European Union has led to rapid changes in legislation over recent years, including significant changes to the fundamental legislative framework of the Penal Code. These changes have led, in turn, to a necessary revision of the Law on the Establishment, Duties and Adjudication Processes of Juvenile Courts in order to ensure that it is in line with international instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to which Turkey is a party.

The first law specifically on children was Law number 2253 in 1979, which was put into force in 1982. More recently a new Child Protection Law, setting out the fundamental legislation on children, was developed and adopted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in 2005.

The Child Protection Law divides children into two groups: children in need of protection and children in contact with the law with the objectives to protect them, to guarantee their rights and to ensure their well being. Accordingly, the protective and supportive measures foreseen for children both in need of protection and those who are or have been involved in crime are laid down in the law and the establishment, procedures and authorities of juvenile courts have been re–regulated in order to implement them.

The Ministry of National Education (MONE), the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Ministry of Health, local administrations and the Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK) all have specific responsibilities and roles to play in order to ensure that protection, consultation, education, care, healthcare and sheltering opportunities are provided to children with the Ministry of Justice in a coordinating role — with the Training Department functioning as secretariat — in the delivery of these services and adoption of relevant measures. Under the umbrella of Children First, technical support was provided by UNICEF with funding from the EU.

Several training sessions and seminars have been conducted with the support of the Children First project to increase knowledge, practice and understanding of the new Child Protection Law among personnel and management of the involved institutions and to promote cooperation between stakeholders. Several hundred participants including judges from juvenile and family courts, public prosecutors, members of the Supreme Court, social workers, psychologists and educationalists from the juvenile and child courts discussed a range of issues and shared their experience during the course of training as joint plans and new cooperation mechanisms were developed and established.

Some training modules focused on legal aspects whereas other modules were designed to increase coordination between social workers and judiciary personnel working in separate institutions with a view to strengthening implementation of the protective and supportive measures laid down in the Child Protection Law.

Feedback received by the Training Department of the Ministry of Justice, showed that the training sessions have been very rewarding for the participants who were pleased to be informed on the various provisions and applications under the Child Protection Law. New perspectives were acquired on how children in contact with the law should be tried before the court and participants also looked into reasons the causes that lead children to come into contact with the law in the first place.

Moreover, participants expressed that the sessions provided them with an opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues from other provinces. The training also helped participants to change their perception of children in contact with the law significantly — viewing them as children in need of protection rather than simply being perpetrators of crime. The need to view their situation from a broader angle, taking into account the psychological, sociological and economic aspects of the issue and how this can support the protection of children was recognised.

According to Judge Özcan Avcı, Head of Training at the Ministry of Justice, communication with the child should be established immediately when he or she comes into contact with the law and both the judge and the prosecutor have an important role to play in establishing a dialogue with the child and to act in the child’s best interest. We have studied and discussed how children are questioned, which methods are used when they are under arrest and what the most suitable rehabilitation means are, he says

Under the Child Protection Law, there is a possibility of applying alternative measures to children under 15 years of age in stead of handing out a prison sentence.

Moreover, Judge Avcı explains:

The establishment of a coordination mechanism is key if an efficient and strong implementation of the Child Protection Law is going to be realised. The main aim at the moment is to create cooperation mechanisms at the provincial level in order for each individual institution to meet its responsibilities and obligations.

Judge Özcan Avcı concludes that:

Our discussions will continue to aim at enhancing the knowledge, practices and skills of our judges, public prosecutors and social workers. We will also continue to work to increase cooperation between those institutions responsible for implementing alternative measures rather than depriving children of their liberty. In this regard, we would like to acknowledge the good endeavours of every individual who is working to make these meetings a success.

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Download the Children First Bulletin, Autumn 2007 edition, in pdf format. [PDF 1.45MB]

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