A group of 29 young students from the National College “Mihai Eminescu” Constanta, actively involved in “Children’s Rights Court” project, have travelled on October 5th to Bucharest, for a documentation visit to the Chamber of Hearing and to the Prosecutors‘ Office of the Bucharest Court.
The visit was organized by Terre des hommes Foundation to facilitate youngsters’ direct information on judicial proceedings that involve children and youth and which may serve as baseline for the educational game that they have to develop within “Children’s Rights Court” project.
The visit’s hosts were: Mr. Alexandru Georgescu, senior prosecutor, Prosecutors’ Office; Mr. Bocu Julian, Chief Commissioner, Capital Police; Mr. Trusca Marian, Prosecutor, Prosecutors’ Office.
For 2 hours, the 29 young guests have addressed question after question, receiving most relevant information on: the roles of forensic investigators, prosecutors and psychologists in investigating cases which involve juvenile offenders; what are the rights and obligations of child witnesses; how to swear an oath; what entails a statement; how the child witnesses’ identity is protected; when and how lie detectors are used; what’s the difference between an author and an accomplice; at what age becomes effective the criminal liability; which are the most common situations when children come in conflict with the law; what is the legal posture of a child who turns out to be forced to commit a crime etc.
The question and answer session was followed by a visit to the specialized Juvenile Hearing Room in the Prosecutor’s Office, which has been arranged through “AUDIS” project and was officially inaugurated on June 3th, 2016. The juvenile hearing room is a device designed to prevent re-traumatisation of children in and to identify accurate information, necessary to legal proceedings.
The entire visit was highly very appreciated by the young people from Constanta who felt both ready to move forward in developing game scenarios within the project, as well as particularly motivated to pursue a career in the legal field.
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Children’s Rights Court is a project funded by the European Commission (JUST / 2014 / Action Grants), gathering six partners at transnational level – Terre des Hommes Lausanne Hungary (applicant), National Network for Children in Bulgaria, Brave Phone Croatia, Terre des hommes Italy, Terre des hommes Romania and Victim Support UK – who aim to develop an online simulation game, informing children and youth about their rights during various civil, administrative and criminal legal proceedings. The game will be conceptualized and adapted to the specific context of each partner country, benefiting from the expertise of national experts, and will empower the future young users to fulfill their rights and obligations in order to avoid risky situations.