Juvenile justice in Armenia: a brief report

PRI Board Member and Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Imman Ali, visited Armenia in Spring 2013 to act as an expert trainer on a training course for judiciary, prosecutors, lawyers and police.

This training was part of a wider PRI programme to modernise the juvenile justice system in Armenia (2010-2013) funded by the European Union under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).

In this short report, he provides a useful overview of the state of the juvenile justice system in Armenia, covering:

• laws of Armenia relating to children in the criminal justice system
• compliance with international instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
• attitudes of criminal justice actors towards children in conflict with the law.

He makes a number of recommendations, including that Armenia should develop a separate trial system for children, as well as separate, informal and child-friendly courts; that there should be greater provision for diversion and alternatives to detention; and that all existing provisions relating to children should be codified into comprehensive new legislation which takes a holistic approach to all matters concerning justice for children.