Between October and November 2018, a two-day training course was organised in Bucharest, Craiova and Brasov for a mixed group of specialists active in the field of juvenile justice, education and child protection. Over 60 participants studied in depth the notions of alternative diversion methods for solving the criminal trial and process for the youth in conflict with the law. The training course also facilitated the creation of an active network of professionals, including probation counsellors, psychologists, social workers, lawyers, school counsellors, prosecutors, police officers and representatives of local communities and other organisations active in the field.    

The training was taught by experts in the field, namely Mrs. Smaranda Witec, Lecturer at the Faculty of Social Work and Sociology, University of Bucharest, Mrs. Georgiana Gheorghe, Executive Director of APADOR-CH, Mrs. Nicoleta Popescu, from APADOR-CH and Mr. Silviu Dumitru, GRADO Expert.

The trainees appreciated the most the debates related to the case studies, the interactive nature of the training, which opened the space for communication and learning, the description of the methods of intervention and, last but not least, the exchange of good practices.   

Training at Craiova – the exercise of the “network” of professionals intervening in the case of a child in conflict with the law

The project AWAY – „Alternative Ways to Address Youth” seeks to increase public awareness of alternative diversion methods of dealing with the criminal process and trial and to increase the level of information on the procedural guarantees of EU Directives 2016/800, 2012/13, 2012/29 applicable to juveniles in conflict with the law. AWAY is coordinated by the Regional Office for Central and South-Eastern Europe of the Foundation „Terre des hommes” and implemented by organisations in Europe that are focused on juvenile justice. The project is supported by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme and is active in five countries across Europe: Bulgaria, through the involvement of the Judicial System Development Programme (PDSJ), Croatia through Brave Phone Croatia, Romania through Terre des Hommes-Switzerland , Belgium, through Defence for Children International (DCI) and the International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO), Hungary, under the coordination of the Terre des hommes Regional Office for Central and Southeast Europe (Applicant) and the Global Network for Public Interest Law – PILNET.

AWAY is co-funded by the REC Programme of the European Union.