Children can come into contact with the law as victims, witnesses or perpetrators of crime in various ways, for example due to poverty, violence, parental divorce, discrimination, etc. In such cases, all experts who are in contact with the child should work together in the best interest of the child. The justice system should guarantee an individual approach to each child in order to take into account the child’s personality and maturity, economic, social and family situation, as well as all specific vulnerabilities.
The Child Rights Centre has created the video “Individual Assessment of Children in Contact with the Law” in order to inform children and youth about their rights in case they come into contact with the justice system, with special focus on the individual assessment of the child. The video shows the importance of the multidisciplinary individual assessment of the child who comes into contact with the justice system as a victim, witness or perpetrator of crime. In addition to being intended for children and youth, it can be useful also for justice system professionals.
The members of the Child Advisory Board, established as part of the FOCUS project, contributed to the creation of this video. The members of the Child Advisory Board had previously participated in a workshop about the media, arts and public speaking, aimed at encouraging their creativity to take an active part in making the video.
The Child Rights Centre made this video as part of the project FOCUS – Working together for children in criminal proceedings, implemented in partnership with the following organisations: Terre des hommes Regional Office in Hungary, Defence for Children in the Netherlands, Institute of Social Activities and Practices (SAPI) in Bulgaria, Child Circle in Belgium, Terre des hommes Hellasand Terre des hommes Romania. The project is co-financed by the European Union through the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme.
