Subsequent session of the Council for Juvenile Justice was held

On 8 June, the subsequent session of the Council for Juvenile Justice was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Suren Krmoyan. During the session, the Deputy Minister submitted to the members of the Council the new working procedure of the Council approved by the Minister of Justice, according to which the Council is an advisory body that is not vested with governmental functions and shall be formed from a maximum of 30 representatives of state, international, public and business sectors. The sessions of the Council shall be held at least once every 3 months in the mandatory presence of one third of the members, and the agenda of the Council shall be formed based on the recommendations submitted by members, which shall be adopted by open voting and with an opportunity to submit a special opinion; document circulation shall be carried out electronically.

Suren Krmoyan also informed the members of the Council that the Council was going to start actively co-operating with the Statistical Committee in the near future so that the reforms recommended by the Council for the best interests of children also have a sustainable analytical basis from now on. Deputy Minister Krmoyan also informed that the website of the Council for Juvenile Justice would be ready by the end of the year and that the aim is to coordinate, integrate and compile all the activities for the best interest of the child in one place.

Subsequently, coordinator of the Juvenile Justice Programme of the United Nations Children's Fund in Armenia Victoria Ohanyan presented to the participants the hands-on activities for planning events in relation to access to juvenile justice that is part of the 2019 annual programme for the protection of children's rights. Afterwards, the amendments to the Criminal Code were also presented within the context of compliance with UN standards as regards the protection of children’s rights which was followed by a question-and-answer with the participants and submission of recommendations.