Juveniles’ Cases Will Be Discussed By Special Judges

Amendments will be introduced to the Criminal Procedural Code by the Legal Committee in the Georgian Parliament. The main idea is that juvenile cases should be discussed by specially trained judges. The amendments will require the same of prosecutors and investigators as well.

According to the draft law, Article 680 will be added to the Georgian Criminal Procedural Code, which will pertain to the conducting of juvenile trials. The draft law states, “Judges, prosecutors, and investigators with the requisite certificates will be allowed to discuss the criminal cases of juveniles from the ages of twelve to fourteen under the Criminal Code."

Section 2 of the article states:

1. Before July 1, 2008, the Georgian Ministry of Justice, Internal Ministry and Prosecutor General together with the Georgian Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Welfare should provide: a) the training program for judges, prosecutors and investigators who will be allowed to discuss juvenile cases; b) training of those judges, prosecutors and investigators who will discuss the juvenile cases.

2. Before July 1, 2008 the Ministry of Justice should finish the building or modification of the penitentiary setting for juveniles that will conform to international standards. Juvenile inmates from 12 to 14 should be placed in this setting.

Amendments will simultaneously be made to the Georgian Criminal Code concerning the age at which juveniles will be criminally liable. Article 80 states, “A person is considered to be a juvenile if s/he is already fourteen when having commited a crime (except in circumstances listed in Article 33) but is not eighteen yet.”

The Georgian Parliament has already discussed the draft law in two sessions. It must be discussed at one more session in order to pass it. Levan Bezhashvili, the chairman of the Legal Parliamentary Committee and the initiator of the amendments said in a conversation with the Human Rights Center that specialized judges and prosecutors will be practicing in Georgia by 2008.

Levan Bezhashvili said, “Although one more session must be held before the law is passed, we might demand the draft law back because there are several topics that must be changed. By 2008, we will have specially trained judges and prosecutors. They would be trained at the School of Justice and will differ from ordinary judges from how they handle juvenile criminal cases. The method has been used abroad for many years already. They will be trained in pedagogy, psychology, children’s rights, etc. They will subsequently be able to discuss cases with a broader education.”

Late in 2006 Karolin Hamilton, an expert in the rights of the child, visited Georgia at the invitation of the UN Children’s Fund. Having visited juvenile prisons and other institutions in Georgia , she was deeply concerned about juvenile punishment in Georgia. One of her recommendations was made to Georgian Government that envisages training of special judges and investigators on juvenile issues.

Bezhashvili said that Georgian Government considered the recommendation and said it would implement changes in accordance with the recommendation.  “Besides the recommendation, there are several international treaties that Georgia has signed regarding the rights of the child. These state that specially trained arbitrators should discuss juvenile cases. As for amendments to the Criminal Code, a person between the ages of 14 and 18 is considered a juvenile, but the age of criminal liability varies between 12 to 14…” said Bezhashvili.

Non-governmental organizations working on children’s rights appreciate the initiative and they say that judges and prosecutors should have been trained long ago on how to handle juvenile cases.

Eka Gulua