A/HRC/4/102
page 19
The Ministry of Justice, with the support of UNODC and UNICEF, organized another training
on juvenile justice in August 2005 for judges, prosecutors, police and social workers focusing on
the new code. Training programmes were also held in Jalalabad, Mazar and Kandahar in 2005.
Government officials, judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers, police, forensic doctors, and social
workers throughout the provinces have been trained.
77.
In August 2005, the Ministry of Justice with the support of UNICEF and UNODC
conducted a seminar on CRC standards and legislation in Afghanistan covering, inter alia,
juvenile justice. In June 2006, a task force to monitor and report on child rights violations and
CRC was established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1539 (2004). Chaired by UNICEF
and with the participation of UNAMA, the objective of the task force is the systematic gathering
of objective, specific and reliable information on grave child rights violations committed in
Afghanistan, and to assist the Government.
78.
In Angola, a conference on access to justice organized by the OHCHR field office in
May 2005 considered, inter alia, juvenile justice and the rights of the child. The conference
adopted recommendations that, if implemented, would provide for the geographic extension of
juvenile courts, the creation of capacities and facilities to assist minors in conflict with the law,
and the criminalization of maltreatment of children. During the review of the draft new Angolan
Penal Code in 2006, the office recommended changes that would provide for the establishment
of a juvenile justice system for children between 14 and 18, and the incorporation of a clear
prohibition of corporal punishment against children.
79.
In Azerbaijan, OHCHR organized a training seminar on juvenile justice in
December 2006 for government officials, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, representatives of the
Ombudsman’s Office and NGOs. The field office, which has a joint juvenile justice project with
UNICEF, plans to organize two juvenile justice workshops in 2007. Planning for 2007 includes
the development and implementation of child rights complaint and child friendly procedures in
court, which will include the organization of 10 round tables with relevant partners; drafting and
printing of a Child Friendly Complaints Mechanisms Guide; and the drafting and printing of a
poster and brochure on application of alternative educative measures.
80.
The production and printing of child friendly literature to explain court procedures and
children’s rights is also planned, and in particular, the development and printing of a Child
Friendly Guide on Juvenile-Police Interactions; the development and printing of a Child
Friendly Guide on Court Procedures; and the development and printing of a user-friendly Guide
on Juvenile Proceedings for Police, Judges, Prosecutors, Lawyers.
81.
In Suva, Fiji, a workshop was held in February 2006 on the implementation of the
concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which considered the
subject of juvenile justice. The workshop made recommendations to strengthen prevention
strategies; to amend the Juvenile Act by raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to
18 years; to ensure that progressively all districts of the country have juvenile courts or
alternatively that ordinary courts periodically function as juvenile courts; to reverse the negative
perception within the justice system and in society of juvenile justice as a “soft response to
crime”; to strengthen the collection of data and indicators; to promote use of alternative
sanctioning of children, such as community work programmes; to expand the model of family
group conferencing as a potential alternative to judicial sanctions; to ensure that when traditional
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