“Unfortunately in the field of juvenile justice we
do not see essential differentiated approach for adults and juveniles. While in
the international practice it is recognized that if a juvenile commits an
offense it shows that there is a reason, therefore first aim should be
identification and addressing the reasons for committing the offense and not the
punishment of the juvenile”, believes the President of the Civil Society Institute
NGO Arman Danielyan. He believes that juvenile justice policy in Armenia is
rather retributive than restorative.  

On November 19 the presentation of the study
“Juvenile Justice in Armenia: Legislative Analysis” was held by the Civil
Society Institute NGO.

In the study it is stressed out that juvenile
justice system of Armenia
does not comply with the accepted international standards. There is no special
legislative act on juvenile justice, specialized judges, prosecutors and
defense lawyers; there is no general policy on crime prevention etc.

According to the expert from the Civil Society
Institute NGO and author of the study Siranush Sahakyan, the first issue is
that sentence types envisaged for juveniles are not adequate for solving juvenile
justice issues.

“In general, one of the problems in the RA Criminal
Code is the lack of alternative sentences. Sentences involving deprivation of
liberty are widely applied also in relation to a juvenile”, says the expert.

The Article 85 of the RA Criminal Code envisages
that a punishment or enforced disciplinary measures can be assigned in relation
to a minor who committed a crime. The Article 86 defines the types of punishments
assigned in relation with minors which are; fine, public work, arrest and
imprisonment for a certain period. 

According to Siranush Sahakyan's observations, fine
is not an effective punishment for minors because their majority do not earn
money, the parents are forced to pay the fine thus the principle of personal
liability is violated. While applying the public work it is necessary to take
into account that the RA Labour Code defines limitations for the work of
minors. 

According to the author, another issue is absence of
the measures substituting the criminal liability.

According to the author, although by the legislation
the body conducting the criminal proceedings has discretion to exempt from the
criminal liability in case of non-grave or medium-gravity crimes (based on the
repentance or reconciliation with the victim). However, there are no legal
grounds for substitution of the criminal liability with alternative measures.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child requires
the introduction of special measures which will allow implementing alternative approaches
to juvenile offence without resorting to judicial procedures.

“It is necessary to keep away the juveniles from
judicial procedures and groundless imprisonment. The alternative measures give
the possibility to keep the juveniles away from the criminal procedures, from
having criminal records. Deprivation of liberty shapes the criminal identity of
a juvenile, creates social disruption and makes it complicated to reintegrate
in future”, says the expert.

Siranush Sahakyan cites the Havana Rules which
provides that imprisonment of juvenile should be used as a last resort for the
minimum necessary period and should be limited to exceptional cases. While,
according to the expert, this principle is not always applied in Armenia and the
juveniles are often imprisoned without grounds.  

Siranush Sahakyan also highlighted the issues of
training of the professionals working with juveniles such as lawyers,
investigators, judges, prosecutors. In her opinion, the law should provide the
involvement of psychologist or social worker at the preliminary investigation
and trial stages.

Currently the law provides the presence of pedagogue
during the interrogation of a juvenile: “The practice shows that usually one of
the school teachers is involved as pedagogue. This restrains the juvenile and
creates difficulties to return to the school in future and for reintegration”,
says the expert and suggests defining in the law who can participate in the
interrogation as a pedagogue.

The issue of protection of juvenile victims and
witnesses is also raised in the study. It is necessary to ensure in the law the
protection procedures for juvenile victims and witnesses. In compliance with
the international standards all investigation actions involving juvenile
accused, victims and witnesses should be conducted with the assistance of
professionals (psychologist, social worker) etc. 

The study includes the suggestion to simplify the
possibility of conducting expedited judicial proceedings in juvenile cases by
the Criminal Procedure Code

RA Deputy Minister of Justice Ruben Melikyan who
participated in the event, stressed out that the discussion and study
presentation is timely as currently the new Criminal Procedure Code is undergoing
the amendments.

Mr. Melikyan presented a number of important changes
in relation of juveniles which are included in the draft, including shortened
length of arrest and detention, participation of the psychologist in the
criminal proceedings, expansion of the alternative measures of restraint etc.

“We have a task to have the Code corresponding to
the modern European standards”, stressed out Melikyan and added that the
conducted legislative analysis will be useful in achieving this goal.

The study was conducted by the Civil Society
Institute NGO in the frames of “Promotion of Modern concepts in the
administration of Juvenile Justice in Armenia” project in cooperation with Penal
Reform International (PRI) and Children Support Centre Foundation (CSCF) under
the Fund For Armenian Relief (FAR).

Full text of the research is here: Armenian and
English.