In 2014 the Child Rights Centre became an associate partner in the project “Children’s Rights Behind Bars”. Human Rights of Children Deprived of liberty: Improving Monitoring Mechanisms”, coordinated by Defence for Children International (DCI) – Belgium and funded by the Criminal Justice Program of the European Commission.
The aim of this project is to improve the conditions of children deprived of their liberty by improving the oversight and control mechanisms and appeal procedures that exist in institutions where children deprived of their liberty are placed. The activities of this project are: conducting a research in 14 countries (Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Britain and Serbia) in order to produce national reports and recommendations on improving and strengthening mechanisms of control and monitoring and appeal procedures in institutions for children deprived of their liberty, and drafting of international standards and guidelines for use in institutions for children deprived of liberty to enforce and protect the rights of the child. The guide will be made on the basis of the prepared national reports, the expertise of 11 international experts, European and international standards in the field and the results of three international meetings involving all partners and experts. Duration of the implementation of the project is 2 years and it is planned that the project runs until January 2016.
Within this project the Child Rights Centre has so far attended the first meeting of partners in Brussels and implemented a national research in Serbia. The field research was realised with the support of International Management Group – IMG, who recognised the importance of research of oversight mechanisms and appeal procedures in institutions for execution of criminal sanctions for further improvement of the juvenile justice system. The research was conducted in Juvenile Correctional Facility in Krusevac, Penitentiary for Juveniles in Valjevo and the Special Prison Hospital in Belgrade.
