CRC/C/ROM/CO/4
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(b) Procedural rights of children are violated during the investigation stage, including
access to a lawyer, coercion to extract statement or confession;
(c) While some judges have been trained particularly to deal with children, this is not
always taken into account in the assigning of cases between the judiciary;
(d) Children are often deprived of liberty in adult detention facilities and while they
are kept separately from adults, they do not benefit from special programmes;
(e) There are very few rehabilitation centres and penitentiaries for children in conflict
with the law, and there are no measures for or institutions charged with assisting such children
with re-integration in the society;
(f)
Children deprived of liberty have seldom access to appropriate education services,
while there are no provisions for education of children in pre-trial detention;
(g) The legislation regulating the activity of re-education centres (Decree No.
545/1972) has been considered by the Ombudsman to be obsolete and no longer adequate to
ensure the child’s best interests, and the child’s physical, psychological, medical, and
educational development.
92.
The Committee recommends that the State party continue its efforts to improve the
system of juvenile justice in line with the Convention, in particular articles 37, 39, and 40,
and other United Nations standards in the field of juvenile justice, including the United
Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing
Rules), the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (The
Riyadh Guidelines), the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of
their Liberty and the Guidelines for Action on Children in the Criminal Justice System. It
also recommends that:
(a) Preventive measures be taken, such as supporting the role of families and
communities in order to help eliminate the social conditions leading children to enter in
contact with the criminal justice system, as well as all possible measures to avoid
stigmatization;
(b) The right to a fair trial be respected at all stages of the proceedings,
including at the investigative stage;
(c) Children in conflict with the law be always dealt with within the juvenile
justice system and never tried as adults in ordinary courts;
(d) The institution of specialized judges for children be introduced in all the
regions and that such specialized judges receive appropriate education and training and
stability;
(e) detention is applied as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible
period of time and be reviewed on a regular basis with a view of withdrawing it;
(f)
Until such time that the establishment of juvenile courts becomes possible, all
measures be taken to ensure that the review of criminal cases concerning children is
conducted with respect to the child’s right to privacy and by judges, legal and
psychological councils trained accordingly;