Improving Justice for Juveniles

29 April 2009


The first meeting of the working group on Juvenile Justice System in Kosovo

The Assembly of EULEX judges together with Kosovo Juvenile Judges has established a working group in order to improve the Juvenile Justice System in Kosovo. The mandate and the aim of the working group is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the legislation and the justice system for juveniles.

“We’re not aiming to revolutionise the system. We want to listen and to learn about the existing system”, said Caroline Charpentier, Legal Assistant for the President of the Assembly of EULEX Judges. “Once the needs are identified we will provide expertise to strengthen the justice system in cooperation with local judges who are in the driving seat”, she added.

EULEX has 32 judges and 17 prosecutors deployed in Kosovo who monitor, mentor and advise their local counterparts to improve the rule of law including the Juvenile Justice System, which is a crucial field for society.

According to UNICEF, Kosovo appears to have a lower rate of juvenile offending in terms of the number of juvenile suspects compared to Western European countries. However, Kosovo has a higher rate of juvenile offending according to the number of juvenile convictions. This may indicate that a relatively high proportion of juvenile suspects in Kosovo are convicted.

The working group is composed of representatives of Kosovo Juvenile Judges, EULEX Judges, EULEX Legal Officers and EULEX Legal Experts from the Legal Policy and Legislation Unit. Representatives from UNICEF and OSCE will observe the meetings of the working group.



Other Photos: