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Human Rights Watchdog Warns against Replacing Delayed Reform of Juvenile Justice with Repression

bta.bg · 2hShare

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) said on Thursday that the country's legislation governing what happens to children in conflict with the law was adopted way back in 1958. "Reform is decades overdue, yet instead of pursuing it, those in power are proposing something all too familiar in Bulgaria – simply increasing penalties. It has long been proven, however, that when it comes to children, harsher penalties do not reduce crime," the BHC said in a statement. It came as a reaction to remarks made on Wednesday by Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev and by Education and Science Minister Georgi Valchev, who said that the government is preparing a new law to combat antisocial behaviour by minors and an increase in penalties for juveniles under the Criminal Code. The BHC argued that harsher penalties for juvenile offenders are contrary to international standards and are ineffective in reducing juvenile crime. "Preventing antisocial and criminal behaviour among young people requires a stro

First report: New Law to Tackle Juvenile Antisocial Behaviour to Be Proposed, Interior Minister Says — bta.bg, 1d