On Friday, April 15, 2022, Center for child rights organized the conference "Justice from the point of view of children and young people" in the premises of the Media Center as one of the activities within the project "Children's rights in Serbia - improving the position of children in the judicial system of the Republic of Serbia" (CRIS). The panelists at the conference were Biljana Sinanović, judge Supreme Court of Cassation and the president of the Council for Minors, Nenad Vujić, director of the Judicial Academy, Jasmina Stanković, MSc, Deputy Public Prosecutor, Milica Kolaković Bojović, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate Institute for Criminological and Sociological Research, Jelena Petrović, project manager of the Center for Children's Rights, as well as members of the DX club at the Center for Children's Rights Natalija Cvetković, Vera Vlaški, Andrea Raičić and Filip Janković. The moderator at the conference was Jasmina Miković, director of the Center for Children's Rights.

Conference "Justice from the point of view of children and young people" - Source: Judicial Academy

The goal of the conference was to summarize the activities implemented within the project, progress in the protection and realization of children's rights, as well as defining further steps.

Jasmina Miković reminded the attendees of the manuals, information materials, brochures, as well as the activities of the Children's Club of the Center for Children's Rights within the CRIS project.

Judge Biljana Sinanović pointed out significant progress in improving the technical conditions for working with child victims in order to avoid secondary victimization. She emphasized the importance of multisectoral cooperation in order to protect the best interests of children and respect children's rights. Judge Sinanović concluded that the continuation of communication and cooperation with children is one of the key steps in order to achieve and protect the rights of children and justice tailored to children, as well as that in the coming period, more work must be done to protect children from sensationalist reporting and to establish the limits of what is allowed in gathering of information by journalists.

Building on the observations of Judge Sinanović, Nenad Vujić emphasized the importance of multi-sector training and long-term successful cooperation of all actors in the process of protecting children's rights. He reminded those present about all the activities and publications of the Judicial Academy in this important area. Director Vujić emphasized all the positive aspects of the implementation of the Law on Juvenile Offenders and Criminal Protection of Juveniles. He emphasized the need to constantly remind all participants in the procedure that all children are small people and that is why the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms must also apply to children and be applied in all procedures related to children. He reminded the participants that child-friendly justice, which everyone has been working on for years, is a broader and deeper context that includes the stages before, during and at the end of the procedure, with a focus on the protection of basic rights, the right to security and privacy, but that greater attention must be paid devote to work on the protection of children who are in danger. Referring to the need to continue working on the protection of children from sensationalist reporting, director Vujić also emphasized the necessity of education on the violation of children's privacy rights by parents and guardians. He concluded that it is necessary to continue the education of all professionals in order to get to know and better understand the procedure, in order to enable the protection of the best interests of the child, but also to hear the opinion and voice of the children in the procedure. 

The deputy public prosecutor, Jasmina Stanković, referred to the prosecution's actions on criminal charges in cases where minors are the perpetrators or victims of a criminal act, also highlighting the positive aspects of the implementation of the Law on Juvenile Offenders, with a special focus on educational orders as corrective measures. The deputy public prosecutor also emphasized the importance of multisectoral cooperation in order to protect the best interests of children. She reminded those present of the memorandums of cooperation signed between the ministries, the Republic Public Prosecutor's Office and the non-governmental sector.

Milica Kolaković Bojović reminded the audience of the importance of further education on media coverage of children, stressing that the current way of working does not respect children's emotions, prevents the right to be forgotten, further socialization and development of children, encourages secondary victimization and violates all children's rights with a special focus on the right to dignity and integrity. Mrs. Kolaković Bojović recalled the role of REM, prosecutor's offices, centers for social work. She concluded that further education is necessary, as well as increasing awareness of the power of sanctions and general prevention.

Jelena Petrović, project manager of the Center for Children's Rights, presented the results of a large survey of children's and young people's views on respect for children's rights and the judiciary from the perspective of children and young people, carried out as part of the project. The research included questions related to the level of information children have about their rights, the way of communication with children before, during and after the procedure, information channels, the urgency of the procedure and the adequacy of child protection and support before, during and after the procedure.

Representatives of the children's club introduced the audience to the film, informative brochures and other activities in which they were involved during the implementation of the project.

A recording of the entire Conference is available at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKGA3nVEXak .