CRC/C/ALB/CO/2-4 (f) The absence of any educational programme for child offenders under the age of criminal responsibility, even in cases of the commission of crimes; and (g) The lack of programmes to assist children in contact with the law and protect them from harm, intimidation, reprisals and secondary victimization and hardship during judicial procedures. 85. The Committee recommends that the State party bring the juvenile justice system fully into line with the Convention, in particular articles 37, 39 and 40, and with other relevant standards, 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 (the Havana Rules), the Guidelines for Action on Children in the Criminal Justice System and the Committee’s general comment No. 10 (CRC/C/GC/10, 2007). In particular, the Committee urges the State party to: (a) Establish specialized juvenile courts with adequate human, technical and financial resources throughout the country, introduce specialized judges for children in all the regions and ensure that such specialized judges receive appropriate education and training; (b) Ensure that children are no longer detained in police stations together with adults and without access to a lawyer and that all cases of mistreatment are properly investigated and punished; (c) Organize regular training for law enforcement personnel, including police and prison administration staff, in order to ensure that they all have a thorough understanding of provisions of the Convention and are aware that violations are not acceptable and will be investigated, and that perpetrators are liable to prosecution; (d) Provide children, both victims and accused, with effective and adequate legal and other assistance at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings in conformity with the Code of Penal Procedure; (e) Ensure that detention is a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time, and that it is reviewed on a regular basis with a view to withdrawing it; (f) Promote alternative measures to detention, such as diversion, probation, counselling, community service or suspended sentences, wherever possible; (g) Take urgent measures to address the conditions of detention in pretrial detention centres for juveniles; (h) Ensure that all children deprived of liberty have effective access to education and health services, including mental health care; and (i) Make use, if relevant, of the technical assistance tools developed by the Interagency Panel on Juvenile Justice and its members, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and NGOs, and seek technical assistance in the area of juvenile justice from members of the Panel. J. Ratification of international human rights instruments 86. The Committee recommends that the State party, in order to further strengthen the fulfilment of children’s rights, ratify the Optional Protocol to the 22

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