On September 16, a round table "Formation of a mechanism for public control over criminal proceedings involving minors in the Volyn region" was held in Kovel, within the framework of a project of the Association for the Protection of Youth Rights of Volyn and its local partner – the "Rehabilitation" Charitable Foundation, which is financed with the support of the "Citizen Action Network in Ukraine (UCAN)" Project, implemented by the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The criminal prosecution of a person, their conviction or acquittal, are undoubtedly events that affect a person's fate. The matter takes on particular importance when it concerns the criminal prosecution of a minor. Then even the smallest details become especially important: whether the inquiry, pre-trial investigation, and court proceedings are conducted correctly, whether the punishment imposed by the court corresponds to the act committed, whether mitigating circumstances were taken into account by the investigation and the court, whether a verdict was rendered as a result of a judicial error, etc.
The representatives of public and human rights organizations, law enforcement and government bodies working with youth who were present at the round table agreed that extremely important in solving the problem of criminal proceedings against minors is the creation of special consultative and advisory bodies. Public councils on compliance with legislation in criminal proceedings involving minors will deal with the prevention of crime among adolescents and the involvement of public organizations in the resocialization of convicts held in the Kovel correctional colony. The coordinator of the Public Council was Heorhiy Korniyevskyi, head of the "Rehabilitation" Charitable Foundation in the city of Kovel.
Andriy Osipov, an attorney of the Volyn Regional Bar Association, emphasized the causes of the threatening situation that exists in criminal proceedings against minors. The legal nihilism of minors, their legal ignorance, and defense by attorneys who are appointed under state coercion on a duty-roster basis are not a sufficient guarantee of a fair trial. As the attorney noted, in the period from January 2003 to July 2004, in criminal cases concerning minors, not a single acquittal was rendered, and over 70% of verdicts were issued with the application of criminal punishment, that is, without the application of compulsory measures of educational influence. That is precisely why, in his opinion, it is extremely important to create effective and efficient mechanisms of public control over proceedings against adolescents.
There is an extremely high level of recidivism among minors who have returned from places of deprivation of liberty. Given that this very age category of young people will in a few years be the foundation of our nation, it is necessary once again to review the methods of punishment and the methods of influencing the behavior and beliefs of minors who have taken the wrong path. In addition, broad public coverage of the subsequent fate of juvenile offenders can become a positive example for their peers.
Every case involving the defense of a minor is individual and requires a delicate approach. While the defense attorney focuses primarily on the professional side of the case and on the subtleties of jurisprudence, alongside the minor who committed the crime there must be an unbiased person, a representative of the public, Andriy Osipov is convinced. As he noted, "such a person must be independent in their opinion. They must assess the environment that could have influenced the minor, must assess the parents, who could also have driven the child to commit a crime. Such a representative of the public can submit a separate petition to the court, etc." The creation of the Public Council is today the most promising opportunity to achieve optimal and fair results in every criminal case against minors. After all, where there is no proper control, arbitrariness and lawlessness will always prevail. The project's attorney expressed hope that such an opinion might also be wrong, but in any case the risk is too great to remain on the sidelines.
The organizers of the project aim to correct the situation also by conducting a special educational program in schools, specialized educational institutions, and also among persons serving sentences. At the same time, prompt assistance is also envisaged: special agreements will be concluded with minors under which, in the event of detention by law enforcement bodies, assistance from qualified attorneys of the project will be provided immediately.
Petro Verzun, head of the legal service of the Association for the Protection of Youth Rights of Volyn and head of the project, recalled that one of the tasks of the planned measures is to raise the level of awareness and legal protection of minors in criminal proceedings, which can realistically be achieved precisely with the help of the Public Council.