PRI to co-host International Colloquium on Juvenile Justice in India
From 16-18 March 2013, PRI, in partnership with HAQ Centre for Child Rights, the National Law University-Delhi, UNICEF India, Save the Children-India, Cordaid, UK Department for Development and Child Fund- India, will host an International Colloquim on Juvenile Justice in Delhi.
The purpose of the colloquium is to reflect upon the variety of problems different countries face in implementing international standards relating to juvenile justice and how they can best respond to them within their national context. The conference will provide a forum to compare legislation, policies and best practice. Participants will share innovative ideas of successful and promising projects in building systems of juvenile justice based on international standards and a common understanding of children’s rights and needs. It is hoped that the conference will bring greater visibility to the important issue of juvenile justice among policymakers and professionals in India, in the region and beyond.
The Colloquium hopes to bring together 60 participants from 14 countries representing statutory bodies, academics, lawyers and practitioners. Confirmed participants include Prof. Jaap Doek, Former Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child; Mr. Cedric Foussard, Director, International Juvenile Justice Observatory; Mr. Alasdair Roy, Children and Young people Commissioner, Human Rights Commission, Australia and Ms. Elissa Rumsey, Compliance Monitoring Coordinator, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Washington D.C.
The March Colloquium provides an opportunity to discuss the problem of violence against children in the juvenile justice system in India and other countries, as well as appropriate and restorative responses to severe offences committed by children – an issue which is high on the public and political agenda in India at present.
Supported by the UK Department of International Development, PRI are co-hosting this colloquium as part of a programme of work which aims to reduce and eliminate violence against children in detention around the world by promoting reform of law, policy and practice through international and national advocacy, training and research. In recent years, the issue of violence against children deprived of their liberty has come to the fore as a severe violation of child rights, which is frequently invisible and under-researched. Throughout the criminal justice process – during arrest, at the police station and in detention – children are at risk of violence from police, prison staff, adult detainees and their peers.
This Colloquium forms part of a series of discussion which PRI are facilitating on the issue. In September 2012 PRI co-hosted an International conference on Violence against Children in Juvenile Justice Systems in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan jointly with UNICEF. During the conference PRI launched and promoted a body of research into violence against children in the criminal justice system around the world, including a set of baseline studies on legislation and policy in Bangladesh, Georgia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tanzania and Georgia and an overview report (in English and Russian). This conference provided a platform to discuss the findings of research by both organisations, and an opportunity to develop action plans to put the recommendations into practice. Download the conference report
For further information please contact Jenny Clarkin jclarkin@penalreform.org / Tel: (+44) 02072476515 or Maria Rosaria Centrone maria@haqcrc.org Tel: (+91) 011-26673599 Mobile: (+91) 9810850710 or visit the event’s facebook page