Minister of Justice: "Through joint efforts, it will be possible to have a more modern system for juvenile justice and the protection of interests of minors"

On 16 December, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan participated in the first sitting of the Council for Juvenile Justice. The Council was established within the scope of "Improving Access to Justice for Children in Armenia" Programme, which is carried out by the Ministry of Justice and the UNICEF. The Minister stressed the importance of the establishment and functioning of the Council, mentioning that it will solve the current problems in the child protection sector, will set and advance unified complex approaches, a strategy and steps deriving therefrom. "The purpose and the outcome of today's meeting is the welfare of children. The platform around the creation of which we have gathered has one main purpose to promote, consolidate and create through joint efforts an efficient system for juvenile justice," said Arpine Hovhannisyan. The Minister informed that, based on the preliminary results of the analysis of the legislation carried out by the Ministry of Justice, in association with the United Nations Children's Fund, there are certain gaps in the legislation in terms of protection of the rights of minors, and several mechanisms and services for children in different situations are missing. "The solutions to the mentioned problems will be given in the new Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Penitentiary Code, the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On probation" and in other legislative acts," said Arpine Hovhannisyan, assuring that it will be possible to achieve the predetermined outcomes and have a more modern system for juvenile justice and protection of interests of minors through joint efforts. According to Head of the Office of the United Nations Children's Fund in Armenia Tanya Radochay, there is no guarantee that this or that child will not find himself or herself with law enforcement authorities someday. "Even if a child has broken the law, we must not forget that we are dealing with a child. It is for that exact purpose that justice for children needs to be available and accessible," said the UNICEF representative and stressed the importance of the joint and effective efforts of all structures dealing with the protection of the rights of the child during the implementation of reforms of this sector. Tanya Radochay positively assessed the activities of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia for the accomplishment of this goal and the fact that there are very few children in Armenia who are deprived of liberty.