The age of criminal responsibility is 17 years old - young people of this age and over will be judged according to the same rules as adult offenders, although the court will apply lower levels of punishment. There are separate prisons for people under 21 years old. The general policy as regards...

In general, the same criminal law applies to both adults and children and there are no separate courts dealing with children. However, the legislation in Finland includes separate provisions on the rights and the protection of children. The age and level of development of the child needs to be...

In criminal law cases, specialist institutions are not in place to deal with child victims and child witnesses. The normal police, prosecution and court services deal with such children. However, guidance is provided with regard to, for example, questioning of child victims and witnesses and the...

The Criminal Code of Procedure (CCP) and the Criminal Code (CC) contain so-called deviated provisions, which provide for specific safeguards and rules applying to children between the ages of 12 and 18. However, where no specific rules exist, the criminal (procedure) rules for adults as stated...

The Estonian legislation guarantees all the general elements of child-friendly justice in criminal proceedings. The best interests of the child are protected by the Child Protection Act and a direct application of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. The right to be heard and to...

The main source of the juvenile justice procedure is the Juvenile Justice Act (JJA) - Zákon o soudnictví ve věcech mládeže. This act regulates the terms and conditions of the criminal responsibility of children above 15 years of age for unlawful acts stipulated in the Criminal Code, the...

The Cypriot legal system may be disaggregated into two categories - the more modern legislation introduced to address the specific problems of domestic violence, child abuse and child trafficking and the older and rather obsolete legislation regulating the role of the Social Welfare Services...

Children involved in criminal proceedings in Luxembourg benefit from specific rules that ensure appropriate protection and treatment. Support for child victims of crimes is easily available through helplines or websites which have been put into place by authorities and NGOs. However, it has been...

The Lithuanian legal framework provides protection for the rights of the child victim and offender and to a lesser degree the rights of the child witness. Due to his/her lack of legal standing during the proceedings, the child, the same as for an adult, is not formally a party to the pre-trial...

Latvian legislation pays particular attention to children in criminal proceedings, taking into account their age and maturity, providing them with additional procedural guarantees and limiting their responsibility. Furthermore, the law emphasises that in all child-related activities,...