This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Criminal proceedings — procedural safeguards for children who are suspected or accused of crimes
- Date of last review:
- 28/11/2016
- Initial creation date:
- 28/11/2016
- Summary code:
-
- 23.03.00.00 Judicial cooperation in criminal matters
- EUROVOC descriptor:
- Directory code:
-
- 05.20.05.00 Freedom of movement for workers and social policy / Social policy / General social provisions
- 19.01.00.00 Area of freedom, security and justice / General
- Summarised document(s):
- Author:
- Publications Office of the European Union
- Responsible entity(ies):
- Publications Office of the European Union
Criminal proceedings — procedural safeguards for children who are suspected or accused of crimes
SUMMARY OF:
WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?
- It establishes procedural safeguards1 for children2 who are suspected or accused of a criminal offence. The safeguards are in addition to those which apply to suspected or accused adults.
- It is the fifth in a series of measures to establish minimum rules for procedural rights across the European Union (EU) in accordance with a 2009 Roadmap.
KEY POINTS
The key elements of the directive are that children have the right of access to a lawyer and the right to be assisted by a lawyer. The assistance by a lawyer is mandatory when they are brought before a court to decide on pre-trial detention and when they are in detention. A child who has not been assisted by a lawyer during the court hearings cannot be sentenced to prison.
EU countries must also ensure that deprivation of liberty, and in particular detention, is imposed on children only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period. Children who are detained should be held separately from adults, unless it is considered to be in the child’s best interest not to do so.
The directive also includes other safeguards, such as the right to:
- be promptly informed about their rights and about general aspects of the conduct of the proceedings;
- have information provided to a parent or another appropriate adult;
- be accompanied by that person during court hearings and at other stages of the proceedings;
- an individual assessment by qualified personnel;
- a medical examination if the child is deprived of liberty;
- protection of privacy during criminal proceedings;
- appear in person at trial;
- effective remedies3.
Judges, prosecutors and other professionals who deal with criminal proceedings involving children should have a specific competence or access to specific training.
FROM WHEN DOES THE DIRECTIVE APPLY?
It has applied since . EU countries have to incorporate it into national legislation by .
BACKGROUND
For more information, see:
- ‘Rights of suspects and accused’ on the European Commission's website
- Press release on the European Commission's website.
* KEY TERMS
- Procedural safeguards: in this case, safeguards that ensure that children are provided with the necessary information to understand how the procedure works and their legal rights.
- Children: people below the age of 18.
- Effective remedies: the means by which a court enforces a right, imposes a penalty, or makes another court order to impose its will.
MAIN DOCUMENT
Directive (EU) 2016/800 of the European Parliament and of the Council of on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings (OJ L 132, , pp. 1–20)
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