21
Juni
2022

Children as suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings — procedural safeguards

Every child has a right to be protected even when they are accused or suspected of committing a crime. The basic principles of justice apply to adults and children alike. But children face specific obstacles during criminal proceedings, such as a lack of understandable information about their rights, limited legal support and poor treatment. The report looks at the practical implementation of Directive (EU) 2016/800 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings in nine Member States – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Italy, Malta, Poland and Portugal.
Overview

This report draws on practitioners’ and children’s experiences of how the directive is applied in practice. In so doing, the findings presented support authorities and policymakers in gaining a better understanding of the fundamental rights challenges encountered and potential remedies to address these. The report also highlights good practices that countries could follow to uphold children’s rights.

In this report:

  1. Directive (EU) 2016/800: scope of applicability, age assessment and monitoring
    - 1.1. Scope of the directive’s application and age categories
    - 1.2. Age assessment and the presumption of childhood in case of uncertainty
    - 1.3. Monitoring implementation of the directive
  2. Information rights: the right of children and their parents or guardians to be informed about procedural rights
    - 2.1. Informing children of their rights and conduct of the proceedings 
    - 2.2. Informing the holder of parental responsibility
  3. Access to a lawyer: the right to be assisted by a lawyer and legal aid
    - 3.1. The right to be assisted by a lawyer and legal aid
  4. Participatory procedural rights: children’s rights to effectively participate in proceedings and to be accompanied during proceedings
    - 4.1. The right to participate in proceedings
    - 4.2. The right to be accompanied by the holder of parental responsibility
  5. Child-specific rights: the right to an individual assessment and the right to privacy in criminal proceedings
    - 5.1. The right to an individual assessment
    - 5.2. The right to privacy in criminal proceedings
    - 5.3. Audiovisual recording of questioning of children
  6. Rights of children deprived of liberty: deprivation of liberty as a last resort and treatment of children in detention
    - 6.1. Deprivation of liberty of children as a last resort
    - 6.2. Medical examination of children deprived of their liberty
    - 6.3. Treatment of children deprived of their liberty
  7. Professionals’ training on children’s rights in criminal proceedings
    7.1. Training for professionals dealing with children