Forum for Human Rights, together with the International Commission of Jurists, have prepared recommendations to help judges, attorneys, lawyers, social workers, probation officers, the police and other professionals, who come into contact with children in conflict with the law. The recommendations discuss the so-called individual assessment of the child and explain why to approach individual assessment with respect for the protection of the child’s human rights.
The recommendations have been developed for the legal system of Slovakia and the Czech Republic but are applicable to other EU national systems. The recommendations include the obligation to ensure the real and effective participation of the child in the preparation of the individual assessment. Furthermore, the recommendations formulate the main principles and rules for working with and sharing information. Children’s procedural rights, such as the right to access and comment on the results of the individual assessment, as well as the right to access legal aid and the right to access information and effective remedies, are particularly emphasized.
Download the Recommendations here:
These recommendations have also been developed in a child-friendly version, which can be used, among other things, to communicate with children about their rights.
Download the child-friendly version here:
based on the Czech legal system: in Czech, in English
based on the Slovak legal system: in Slovak
Watch the video for children here. The video is based on the recommendations mentioned above.
Download the poster based on the video here.
These materials, together with recommendations, can help raise children’s awareness of their rights.
The Recommendations and the other materials are a result of a two-year long project PRACTICE (Procedural Rights for All Children in justice), funded by the EU Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020). During the project, trainings for judges, prosecutors, attorneys, lawyers, social workers, probation officers and other professionals in the field of justice for children took place, which helped to formulate the conclusions set out in the recommendations.
For more information about the project click here.
In the initial phase of the project, a background study was prepared mapping the legislation and practice of individual assessment of children in conflict with the law in the national legal systems of four selected Western European countries, namely Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland and England and Wales.
Download the study in English here.
The recommendations were published by the partner organizations, the Forum for Human Rights and the International Commission of Jurists, on 9 December 2021 at the final meeting of the project. The record of the meeting will be published on the International Commission of Jurists website in the upcoming days.
