Filenews 28 January 2024
In 2021, legislation was passed under which children who committed offences will be held outside prisons and before the legislation is even implemented, a new bill was tabled, according to which until January 1, 2026 they will be held in prisons.
For the delay in setting up a detention facility outside prisons (at best it will reach five years) the Court caught the ear of the services involved.
The detention of children in prisons is due to the lack of timely arrangements to find and establish a suitable place of detention outside prisons. One of the reasons why the legislation did not work was the provision of guardianship of minors by private security guards, which MPs objected to, considering that this service should be provided by public prison guards.
The explanatory report, which accompanies the bill, under the title "The Children in Conflict with the Law Law (Law 55(I)/021)" states that (initially) the relevant legislation was passed by the House of Representatives and entered into force in April 2021. This aimed (and still is) to establish a justice system friendly to juvenile offenders and to prevent juvenile delinquency, mainly by instituting extrajudicial procedures and alternative measures of treatment. According to the explanatory report, the prison sentence is the measure of last resort and is imposed by the children's court only if the extrajudicial procedures and/or alternative measures provided for by the aforementioned Law are not successful.
Provision for detention outside prisons
One of the most important reforms established by this Law is the operation of a special detention area for children, outside prisons, which must have a reformative, pedagogical, therapeutic and "welfare" character and meet international and European standards for such places. Persons aged 16 to 21 will be held in this area, who are either sentenced by the Court to detention or are in pre-trial detention for an offence committed or possibly committed before the age of 18.
According to the provision of the Law, for a period of one year from the date of entry into force of the Law, the Children's Court may impose a sentence of detention in a special place of detention within prisons. However, this site did not operate (for a period of one year from the entry into force of the legislation).
They were told find space
The Council of Ministers, by its decision dated 30/7/2021, authorized the former Minister of Justice and Public Order to take the necessary steps to find/create a special detention area for children, in accordance with the public procurement procedures provided for in the relevant legislation.
Immediately after the above decision, the Ministry of Justice and Public Order appointed a special technocratic committee, consisting of representatives of all the Services involved, to prepare the terms and specifications that the site must meet.
Based on a decision of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Justice and Public Order prepared a draft decree so that the security of the area can be entrusted to a private office providing security services. However, during the debate before Parliament concerning the release of the fund for the operation of the site, concerns and reservations were expressed by MPs about the government's intention to entrust the guarding of the site to the private sector.
They acknowledged that there are sensitive aspects
The explanatory statement states that "taking into account the concerns of MPs and recognizing the seriousness and sensitive aspects of the issue, and after consultation with the Ministry of Finance, it was considered a safer solution to assign the responsibility of guarding the area (and the children who will be detained in it) to the state sector. For this reason, 12 prison guard positions have been included and approved in the 2023 Budget, which have been released and their recruitment procedures will proceed within the next year.
Following the recommendation of the Legal Service, a "Regulatory Framework" was prepared for the operation of the site. The public consultation was completed and the final text was forwarded to the Legal Service on 2/10/2023 for legislative scrutiny.
The Court caught the ear of the authorities
In the meantime, the "Children's Court", in its decision in a specific case, noted the absence of a special detention area outside prisons.
The report also states that "given that the procedures for finding/creating a place to hold children outside prisons are not expected to be completed before the end of 2024, the Ministry of Justice and Public Order has prepared a bill to amend article 119 of the Children in Conflict with the Law of 2021 (Law 55(I)/2021), so that transitional space can be used within the Central Prisons, specially designed for the detention of children sentenced to detention, until the operation of the children's detention facility is possible and in any case, for a period not exceeding 1/1/2026".
