The Slovenian criminal justice system has several elements of child-friendly justice though the greatest specificities are to be found with respect to child suspects and defendants. In this area, the criminal justice system for children is parallel to the general justice system: cases involving child defendants are dealt with by specialised children's judges under specific rules. Only where issues are not regulated by these specific rules are the general criminal procedure rules applied. One of the key specificities is that social services are included in the criminal procedure by having the right to be informed about the procedure and to actively participate in it by giving proposals and opinions. The age of criminal responsibility starts at 14 years of age and a person is considered a child until they reach 18 years old. The approach of the Slovenian criminal justice system to child defendants is a protective one, meaning that the main purpose of sanctions imposed on child defendants is education, re-education and correctional development, and not retribution for crimes they committed. This has practical effects as a child between 14 and 16 years of age may only be issued with educational measures (and there are a number of different possibilities provided for), while children between 16 and 18 years of age may only be imprisoned exceptionally. If imprisonment is imposed, a child is imprisoned in a child-specific unit within an adult prison which is regulated under specific norms and which pays specific attention to the child's education, re-education and development. Slovenian sentencing policy has ensured that as Slovenia has one of the lowest incarceration rates in Europe1. While there is a parallel criminal justice system in place for child defendants, this is not the case for child victims and witnesses. In law there are only a few additional norms that pay special attention to these two groups. There are rules according to which hearings of child witnesses may be carried out with the assistance of a pedagogue if this is needed. The court may decide to remove the child from the courtroom as soon as his/her presence is no longer necessary. Also the court may close the hearing to the public based on the best interests of the child. Also, in practice, a child witness younger than 10 years of age is never questioned in the court. If the defendant so demands, at most, only the statement that the child gave in previous phases of the procedure is read aloud - and the child will not have to attend court again2. Child victims enjoy adapted treatment within the criminal justice system. For example, child victims who are victims of certain very serious crimes have the right to a lawyer paid for by the state throughout the procedure. Also, in practice, there is a notable development of child-friendly interview rooms which enable a child to express him or herself in a child-friendly environment without the presence of judges, prosecutors, police, or lawyers who observe the hearing from another room. As the hearing is recorded, the recording is available for later use and the testimony does not need to be repeated, this avoiding secondary victimisation. These rooms are, however, not available throughout the country and are still not part of a standard procedure. Children who are victims of domestic violence have access to additional specific protection measures and are therefore more protected compared to children who are victims of other types of crimes.
