The Council of Europe’s project in Ukraine, “Protecting the rights of Ukrainian children and ensuring child-friendly justice” starts development of a training programme for  juvenile prosecutors  and relevant units of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) aimed at enhancing their professional skills and capacity to work with minors who have been involved and recruited to commit crimes against national security of Ukraine.

Representatives of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine, together with national and international experts, discussed during a joint meeting the urgent needs and requests from juvenile prosecutors and relevant SBU units investigating crimes of this category involving minors, particularly in the context of the challenges posed by the war of aggression of Russian Federation against Ukraine.

The training programme will focus on enhancing understanding of the procedures for recruitment and encouragement of minors to commit acts of sabotage on Ukrainian territory; developing mechanisms for implementing international standards and principles for investigating such crimes; ensuring effective inter-agency cooperation and a child-centred approach during criminal proceedings in the practical work of relevant law enforcement agencies in Ukraine.

A pilot training session is planned to take place for a selected group of professionals following the development of the programme in late autumn.   

The Council of Europe project “Protecting the rights of Ukrainian children and ensuring child-friendly justice” is being implemented by the Council of Europe as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine ‘Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction’ for 2023–2026.