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Contents:

1. Editorial
2. Internet tools
3. New resources
4. Future events
5. Links

1. Editorial:

The Panel Secretariat would like to take this opportunity to welcome the adoption of the first resolution on the rights of the child of the Human Rights Council, adopted without a vote at the conclusion of its 7th session on Friday 28 March 2008 (latest version: A/HRC/7/L.34.Rev.1). The resolution gives consideration to the rights of children in conflict with the law in operative paragraphs 29, 29bis and 30. Most notably, the resolution calls upon States to abolish the death penalty and life imprisonment without possibility of release for children under 18 at the time of commission of the offence and calls upon States to protect children deprived of their liberty from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Moreover, it calls upon States to give greater consideration to restorative justice practices, including mediation, as alternatives to sentencing, or as part of a sentencing process, in respect of offenders under 18. We encourage juvenile justice actors to use the resolution as an advocacy tool and seize all opportunities to raise the profile of juvenile justice at the international, regional and national level.

We would also like to flag that the Panel Secretariat and four Panel members – Defence for Children International (DCI) Netherlands, the International Juvenile Justice Observatory (OIJJ), Penal Reform International (PRI) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) - will be holding a side-event at the 17th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ):

• “Strategies to address Violence against Children in Conflict with the Law”, 17 April 2008, 13:30-15:00, Vienna International Centre (VIC), conference room I, Vienna, Austria.

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2. Internet tools:

The section of the website entitled “Other Regional Standards” is now available in English and French. It includes information on key cases, resolutions, declarations and opinions relevant to juvenile justice from regional bodies in Africa, the Americas and Europe:
http://www.juvenilejusticepanel.org/en/regionalother.html

Please send us information on other regional resources to complete this section.

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3. Selected new resources on the Panel website:

Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS)

• Debating Youth Justice: From Punishment to Problem Solving? (2007) (EN)

Defence for Children International (DCI)

• A series of seven “Fact Sheets” on the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment No. 10: 1. Children’s Rights in Juvenile Justice; 2. Preventing Juvenile Delinquency; 3. Promoting Diversion; 4. Ensuring Appropriate Age Limits of Criminal Responsibility; 5. Guaranteeing a Fair Trial; 6. Prohibiting the Death Penalty and Life Imprisonment; 7. Deprivation of Liberty as a Last Resort (2008) (EN)

Defence for Children International (DCI) - Costa Rica

• Workshop Report: Alternative Sanctions and Juvenile Justice in Central America (2007) (ES)

Defence for Children International (DCI) - Netherlands/ DCI - Belgium / DCI - France / Howard League for Penal Reform

• Violence against Children in Conflict with the Law: Indicators and Data Collection in Belgium, England and Wales, France and the Netherlands (2008) (EN, FR) 

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

• Adults Before Their Time: Children in Saudi Arabia’s Criminal Justice System (2008) (EN)

Keeping Children Safe Coalition

• Keeping Children Safe: A Toolkit for Child Protection. Tool 1 (Standards for Child Protection); Tool 2 (How to Implement the Standards); Tool 3 (Training for Child Protection) (2006) (EN)

Penal Reform International (PRI)

• Compendium of Comparative Prison Legislation (2008) (EN)

UNICEF - Iran

• Police Training Module on Juvenile Justice (2008) (Farsi) 

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

• Criminal Justice Assessment Toolkit, Cross-cutting issues, Juvenile Justice (2008) (FR, also available in EN)

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4. Forthcoming Panel member events:

To view the Calendar of events: www.juvenilejusticepanel.org/events/

UNICEF – Iran/ Police Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran

• Police training on juvenile justice principles and best practices, 14-18 April 2008, Kish Island, Islamic Republic of Iran.

UNODC - Egypt/ Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity/ Egyptian Adult Education Body

• Two training sessions on literacy techniques for educational staff working with children in conflict with the law in the Marg area, April 2008, Egypt.

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5. New links from our website:

Academic Institutions:

• Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (UK)
• Universidad Diego Portales Facultad de Derecho Chile (Chile)/UNICEF, Database of Inter-American Jurisprudence on the Rights of the Child

Intergovernmental/Governmental websites:

• Instituto Latinoamericano de Naciones Unidas para la Prevención del Delito y el Tratamiento del Delincuente (ILANUD), Juvenile Justice Programme

NGOs:

• European Prison Education Association (EPEA)
• National Association for Youth Justice (UK)

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AS AN EXCHANGE OF RESOURCES CAN ONLY SUCCEED WITH YOUR INPUT, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO SEND US INFORMATION ON JUVENILE JUSTICE ISSUES (reports, events, best practices, lessons learned, etc).

Yours sincerely,

The Newsletter Team


About the Newsletter:
Editorial in English: Davinia Ovett, Secretariat Coordinator, IPJJ
Editorial in French: Evelyne Monnay, Communications Assistant, IPJJ
Translation into Spanish: Vera Winkelried
Please send us your comments to: newsletter@juvenilejusticepanel.org

Address:
Interagency Panel on Juvenile Justice, Secretariat, 1, rue de Varembé, CP 88, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, Tel: +41 (0) 22 734 05 58, Fax: +41 (0) 22 740 11 45
http://www.juvenilejusticepanel.org