Juvenile Justice Reform

Results as of July 2013 include: A new Criminal Procedure Code was completed for which DFATD provided input to the sections related to minors. This includes provisions for the creation of specialized prosecutors and investigators for young offender cases the specialization of judges who preside over youth cases the increased differentiation from adult procedures and the additional protections of the rights of juveniles in criminal proceedings. More than 471 judges and other judicial stakeholders have been trained on how Canadian models and other international best practices for youth justice can be applied in their work. Significant progress was made in piloting more effective Youth Justice approaches. This included opening Attendance Centres which now serve at least 23 youth introducing youth crime prevention by police through the development of a national school-police program and developing both a specialized court process for young offender cases and a rehabilitation program for youth on suspended sentences. A total of 300 youth in conflict with the law directly benefitted from the project in the two pilot regions (Ivano-Frankivsk and Melitopol).