Juvenile justice systems in Europe have undergone considerable change over the past 20 years, particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). These legal and structural changes concerned the implementation of alternative measures, diversion, victim-offender mediation and other restorative techniques in the majority of the countries in the CEE region.

Terre des hommes Mission in Albania, in partnership with Terre des hommes Foundation in Hungary and the Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes, with the support of the Delegation of the European Union to Albania, has started a new initiative on contributing to the respect of children rights of children/youth in contact with the law

Terre des hommes co-organises the 2018 World Congress on Justice for Children: “Strengthening Justice Systems for Children: Challenges, including disengagement from violent extremism”, which will be held at the UNESCO House in Paris, France from 28th to 30th May 2018.

Each year, more than half a million children in Europe come in contact with the law. To help them understand the legal proceedings and their rights, Terre des hommes worked with young people to develop StoryLab, an innovative mobile game that guides young players through the workings of the legal system.

This programme was developed by Romanian experts Mihaela Sasarman and Andrei Chişcu and contains 20 topics focused on the most frequent behaviors experienced by children, being provided for application during one academic year.

The purpose of this guidebook is to prevent juvenile delinquency among preadolescent and adolescent children, and it is addressed to psychologists working in schools and psycho-pedagogical assistance services.

This Handbook responds to one of the major needs of the juvenile justice system - that of changing children’s criminal behaviours. Delinquent behaviour amongst children is the outcome of multiple risk factors, given that the protection measures that have been taken proved to be insufficient. 

As a result of the advocacy efforts of Terre des hommes Moldova, which elaborated a regulatory concept and a proposal of legislative amendments on the status of the child under the age of criminal liability that committed criminal offenses, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova came with a legislative initiative in November 2017, consisting from a special draft-law that addresses the issue through a series of complex solutions.

On October 19, 2017, the Ombudsman Institution from the Republic of Moldova, in partnership with Terre des hommes Moldova, organized a conference addressing the legal status of the child who has committed a criminal offense, but did not reach the age of criminal liability.

The Human Dimension Seminar brought together more than 100 representatives of governments, international organizations and civil society for an exchange of views and information regarding children in situations of risk, particularly in the context of deprivation of liberty and trafficking.