The rights of children behind bars in Romania from the perspective of stakeholders and civil society

• In Event: Juvenile Justice 2. Children in the Justice System

Abstract

In Romania the children 'behind bars' have benefited in recent years from major changes regarding social and penal policies that have consistently improved the rehabilitative interventions. Respect for the rights and their superior interest is at the core of this. Thus, children and young people in the custody of educational and detention centers in Romania have become increasingly visible within the child protection system and implicitly within all other systems providing services for the society, such as educational, health and legal system. Their rights as children were practically become operational from all perspectives.
Our research is a qualitative one, based on 22 interviews with stakeholders and civil society who are working in the field of child protection system, in Romania. In this study we analyze the stakeholders and civil society perspectives in the term of respecting rights of children behind bars. The Romanian legislation on child protection has undergone a series of changes aimed to create an institutional framework conducive to the respect of their rights, including regulations on criminal liability and all these created a new dynamic about it, at the level of local and national cooperation.
Our main conclusion is that under the effect of educational measures, children in units subordinated to the National Administration of Penitentiaries (educational and detention centers) benefit today from interventions and programs comparable to those at European and international level and more than the criminal justice system, an important role is played by different other institutions and civil society.

Authors

• Mihaela Alida Tomita, West University of Timisoara

• Roxana Ungureanu, West University of Timisoara