Filenews 9 April 2021
The Plenary of the House passed into law the harmonising bill establishing a child-friendly criminal justice system and preventing and tackling juvenile delinquency, through the establishment of new structures and procedures for the disengagement of children from the justice system.
The law will enter into force immediately after publication in the Official Journal of the Republic and not by decision of the Minister as provided for in the text of the bill tabled. Members of the House Committee on Legal Affairs called on the Government to immediately start creating the structures and infrastructure needed to implement the law, stating that they would closely monitor its implementation so that it would not stick to the theory and be left in drawers.
Taking the floor, The Chairman of the Legal Committee George Georgiou, after saying that the law harmonises Cypriot law with EU law for children suspected of offences, said that the transposition of the 2016 directive was tabled in parliament in June 2019.
He added that the bill was tabled in the House after a reasoned opinion was received and one would expect a fully and properly crafted bill worthy of its importance, but instead a "legislative straw" was presented and it took 22 sessions of the Commission, 5.5 months of continuous parliamentary work. This is, he continued, a 220-page text of the law and a 30-page report by the Committee on Legal Affairs.
Referring to the law passed, he said, among other things, that this is a pioneering system for establishing a system for child-centred treatment of underage offenders, with the primary concern being to take into account the best interests of the child.
He noted that the philosophy of the law is that prosecution is a last-step measure and is implemented after all other measures have been tried and failed. It provides that a Juvenile Court is established and child detention facilities are created outside prisons.
Mr Georgiou also said that juvenile delinquency is a multifaceted problem and modern child-centred approaches are needed to tackle it, with the cooperation of all stakeholders. Mr Georgiou added that the law would enter into force with its publication in the Official Journal and not by decision of the Minister as provided for in the bill.
ACPL MP Aristos Damianou noted that a step forward was taken legislatively. He added that we needed to move from theory to practice and appealed and warned together to the relevant Ministries and Agencies not to confine themselves to a note that harmonising legislation had been passed. Referring to the custody and detention of minors, he said that based on the information of the Committee on Legal Affairs there is no special place in prisons for minors. He said that under the law they would be held under special conditions in central prisons and said the implementation of the legislation would be closely monitored.
DIKO MP Panikos Leonidou, after clarifying that he agrees with Mr Georgiou, added that the text of the bill identified contradictions and contradictions. He said that as the law was formulated it reflects modern approaches to treating underage offenders taking into account social and psychological considerations and enshrines children's rights. All that is included in the law in theory is exceptional, he went on and appealed to the state to ensure the necessary infrastructure so that the law does not stay in the drawers, but is implemented.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Education Kyriakos Hatzigiannis observed that the law was a necessity. He added that the issue of juvenile delinquency was discussed many times in the Education Committee and the positions were that offenders should be supported rather than prosecuted through a modern context. Finally, he said that the new law adds tools to school and the state, with a scientific approach to juvenile delinquency.
Source: eyenews / CYPE
