One partner with whom Nana is building closer ties is UNICEF Georgia. UNICEF is an important partner due to cooperation agreement the organization recently signed with the Georgian government, putting UNICEF at the forefront of juvenile justice reform in Georgia.  UNICEF is working to assist the Georgian government in living up to its obligations under the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. Through UNICEF, Nana has received information that will improve GYLA’s ability to create effective programs and work in the field.

Nana has also signed preliminary agreement s of cooperation with five others NGOs and is in negotiation with the Kutaisi probation bureau. One group, the Georgian Centre for Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT) focuses on rehabilitating youths who have been released on probation under a diversion mechanism which permits prosecutors to waive juveniles’ criminal responsibility for first offenses or misdemeanours. Interacting with groups such as GCRT significantly increases the depth of Nana’s project, allowing her to develop better information streams for her trainings.

In addition to its work with UNICEF and GCRT, GYLA has hosted a training event on juvenile rights in a children’s shelter, and organised a project presentation to different state and non-state stakeholders, such as the Legal Aid Bureau, universities, civil organizations working on juvenile cases. Additionally GYLA plans to organize networking events for civil organisations, the prosecutor’s office, police officers and other court representatives to discuss key issues in juvenile justice reform in Georgia.

It includes basic information about the legal system in Georgia, especially as it pertains to juveniles, notably that juvenile defendants are those between the ages of 14 and 18.  Additionally, the brochure defines legal jargon for students to understand, and clearly highlights the following tenets of criminal procedure: the right to a lawyer, the right to remain silent, the right to receive medical care in custody, and the right to be informed of the charges against you. The brochure also has contact information for other forms of legal aid or legal advice which the accused juveniles or their families could access. These including information about the GYLA resource centre, an alternative to the government-run legal aid program.

Although the Georgian government should be commended for offering legal aid, protection gaps remain. If a citizen seeking legal aid surpasses the means test, or the legal aid office is already over-capacity, the government does not direct the applicant to any alternative remedies, including services offered by NGOs. Nana hopes her brochure will help rectify this limitation in legal aid. The GYLA resource centre, for example, offers legal consultation and advice, defence lawyers during preliminary investigations and court appearances, information about reforms taking place in the juvenile justice system, and trainings for children’s groups.

The brochure will now be disseminated throughout Georgia, in universities, NGO offices and public institutions.

– Abby Anderson

Executive director, Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance, the USA

The European Court of Human Rights has considered the age of criminal responsibility and the right to a fair trial in the case of T V vs. United Kingdom (See T and V vs. UK Application no. 24724/94 – http://www.echr.coe.int/echr/) involving an eleven year old boy charged with murder of a two year old. The court held that the formality and ritual of the adult court was incomprehensible and intimidating for a child and that the right to fair trail had been violated, even though the boy was represented by skilled and experienced lawyers. In the light of the lack of juvenile courts in Georgia, and the lack of specialized juvenile lawyers and judges, much the same criticism could be leveled at the Georgian system, and any challenge to the European Court would have a good chance of success.

Georgia became a member of the UN Treaty Convention on the Child`s Rights on 2 June, 1994. The country reports were submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in 1998 and in 2003. The Committee published comments on the second report and expressed deep regret that Georgia had not considered the UN recommendations on the previous report and the Juvenile Justice was executed with the bad practice against the International Standards and with the violations of the children`s rights (http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.15.Add.222.En?OpenDocument).

In 2007 the amendments, made in the Criminal Code of Georgia which reduced the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12, caused considerable concerns in the light of the failure to implement the Conventions provisions. After the regrets declared by the UNCRC and national and international human rights organizations, this amendment is currently on moratorium and the Parliament of Georgia is discussing about restoring the age of criminal responsibility again to 14.

Compared with the Western Europe, Georgia has a very low number of juvenile prosecutions. However, it does have a high rate of imprisonment for juveniles as shown (http://www.mcla.gov.ge).

The comparable figure for England and Wales (which has one of the highest rates of imprisonment in the Western Europe) is approximately 9%. In England, the maximum length of sentence for a juvenile is two years (of which one year is spent in the community under supervision), unless the juvenile has committed a very serious offence against the person, such as murder.

The minimum sentence for children placed at the Juvenile Correctional Center is six months, but very small number of the children is given a minimum sentence. Because the sentence of imprisonment given to children is generally three years or more, it was estimated that about 60% of the children will move into adult prisons.

At present the current system of juvenile justice in Georgia which is largely still the system implemented under Soviet rule provides too little discretion, flexibility and alternatives to criminalization to meet human rights standards. Children are tried in adult courts under the same procedure and conditions as applying to adult offenders. The Criminal Code of Georgia provides the judge with a range of possible non-custodial sanctions when sentencing, but in practice, the options are few, and there are an inadequate range of alternatives to detention (www.childrenslegalcentre.com/International+programmes/…/JuvenileJustice)

The urgency of reform of the existing legislation and the overall system and practice of the juvenile justice is on the face. The children should not receive “adult time for adult crime” but they should “be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child’s sense of dignity and worth, which reinforces the child’s respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child’s age and the desirability of promoting the child’s reintegration and the child’s assuming a constructive role in society” (Art. 40 of the UN Convention on the Child`s Rights).

The mentioned problem of the treatment of child offenders as adult criminals in justice system is common for many UN Member States. Although, there have been major advances in the understanding of adolescent offending in many of the States, but with few exceptions, these understandings have not yet been translated into legislations.

Discussion Points:

• Are there any exceptions when the existing mentality of “Adult time for adult crime” is justifiable to exercise?
• How is it in other countries?
• To change this mentality is a matter of policy and when the governments are doing nothing, can NGOs and independent human rights defenders assist the process of reformation and push the government to changes?
• How important is international cooperation and share of experiences for changing the “adult time for adult crime” mentality?