What is juvenile justice? Legal system for the protection of the rights of minors

What is juvenile justice? This question is asked every day more often. The reason is simple - the incredible relevance and importance of this topic. This article will list all the legal bases of juvenile justice.

General characteristics of the system

Many Russian citizens have probably heard only the bad about the juvenile justice system. This legal branch really got a lot of myths. The reason for this is simple - people do not want to go into the root of the problem, in the very basis of law. And it is now about her to tell.

What is meant by the notion of justice? This is a set of bodies of federal and local significance, the purpose of which is the implementation of procedures established by law. In the case of juvenile law, this is the protection of the rights of minors. At the same time, the system under consideration includes social, legal, pedagogical and medical measures of influence.

Juvenile law is not something new and unusual even for Russian reality. So, it is worth paying attention to at least the basic principles of the system.

Principles of the functioning of the system

In order to better understand what juvenile justice is, it is necessary to pay attention to the basic principles of building this legal system. What exactly can be distinguished here?

• The rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the child are placed above all;
• All the institutions of the represented legal system operate openly and, as they say, transparently;
• Preventive approach in priority;
• Family support by the state;
• Children can apply for social and legal assistance;
• There is a clear system of interaction with the child;
• Expansion of the restorative approach to the child;
• Creation of favorable conditions for effective and comprehensive socialization of children and so on.

All other principles contain a law on justice (FZ on the basis of the system of juvenile justice).

System of state institutions

The question of what juvenile justice is is impossible to qualitatively examine without mentioning the main bodies and institutions that are part of the system under consideration. So, it is necessary to allocate the following state bodies:

• Juvenile courts;
• Commission on affairs of minors;
• The prosecutor's office (or, more specifically, the commissioners of the prosecutor's office specially authorized for children's affairs);
• Bodies of inquiry and investigation;
• Institutions of public health, education, social protection, custody, youth policy, etc .;
• Colonies for minors and other isolation institutions aimed at re-educating juvenile offenders;
• Bodies of culture.

Thus, the system of bodies includes almost all possible institutions, ranging from cultural to law enforcement. All this gives a clear understanding of the extent to which the system of juvenile justice is broad and complex in its composition. At the same time, not all bodies were mentioned above, but only state organs.

System of non-state institutions

The juvenile legal system, despite its relative novelty, managed to expand considerably with the help of various state, private, budgetary and commercial organizations. Thus, local self-government bodies regulate the juvenile legal system by ensuring:

• Adoptive, large families, low-income and problem families;
• Bodies of guardianship and trusteeship;
• Services, institutions and centers of municipal, social and research nature.

If we talk about the bodies in whose sphere of activity juvenile and civil justice is included, then it is necessary to single out:

• The Bar;
• Non-state institutions (medical, educational, crisis, etc.);
• Non-governmental organizations specializing in minors (shelters, educational institutions, etc.)

Next, it is worth mentioning three important components of the entire system under consideration. These are forms, principles and procedures for the interaction of elements of juvenile justice.

Principles of interaction of bodies

The principles of functioning of the entire juvenile system have already been indicated above. However, now it is worth highlighting the main principles of interaction between the bodies and institutions with which the legal structure under consideration operates. Of course, these two groups of principles are similar, but some additions are still necessary. In particular, it is necessary to designate:

• Legality. The entire system under consideration is the laws of Russia, as well as some by-laws.
• Ergonomy and corrected actions. Since the whole structure of juvenile justice is incredibly complex, authorized bodies must act quickly, qualitatively and strictly in accordance with the law. It is especially important to single out a program-targeted approach.

In addition, the principles of openness, transparency and accessibility are also highlighted here.

Forms of interaction

How do the bodies that are part of the juvenile justice system interact? Here it is worth highlighting the basic forms of functioning regulated by Russian laws. These include:

• Councils are interdepartmental, interinstitutional and non-departmental. Councils should be endowed with expert and advisory functions.
• Scientific, research and experimental work of various scientific centers.
• Local funds wishing or undertaking to implement (or help implement) the functions of justice in the field of juvenile law.
• Social projects, their presentation at special fairs.
• Social orders formed by state bodies at research centers, medical institutions, educational institutions, etc.
• The laws of Russia.

We can say that often the form of interaction in the system of juvenile law is not standardized, but rather on pure enthusiasm. Although, of course, some strictness and clear regulation here prevail.

Interaction Procedures

After telling about the basic principles and forms of functioning of organizations, it is necessary to finally bring the main procedures that are implemented by institutions specializing in juvenile justice. What does this include?

• "Classic" congresses, round tables, conferences and other events, where various important issues are discussed. All these issues, however, are included in a single sphere: the protection of the rights of minors.
• Public competitions for the implementation of a social, scientific or cultural order (this also includes the so-called scientific fairs).
• The activities of experts, councils or specific institutions on such important issues as the responsibility of minors for offenses, low-income families, juvenile delinquency, etc.

Procedures, therefore, can be very different. They are carried out in strict accordance with certain rules, as well as the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Organizational support of the system

Organizational provision of juvenile justice as the most important branch of law should be given special attention. Thus, the whole structure under consideration functions due to the following elements and procedures:

• Regulatory legal acts, local acts, as well as various regulations that regulate and detail the activities of the relevant bodies;
• Implementation of pilot projects;
• The use of scientific works and research (pedagogical, medical, psychiatric, legal, psychological, etc.);
• Organization of information support;
• Large-scale educational processes;
• Financial support of relevant bodies.

Social significance

Above, the entire external structure of the legal branch was examined in detail. Now we should talk about juvenile justice from a slightly more "mundane" point of view. So, the main question has not disappeared: why a significant number of Russians refer to the juvenile legal system so negatively? Studies of political scientists, sociologists and even journalists show that the people do not know the direct content of the same federal law on juvenile justice. It is not uncommon among Russians to disseminate propaganda and provocative materials that call for the prohibition and prevention of the juvenile system in Russia. The basis of all myths is a deep conviction that the system in question is aimed at "the universal seizure of children from families." Supporters of the prohibition refer to the possibility of "knocking" on the parents, after which the guardianship authorities are entitled at any time to take the child to the shelter.

Indeed, the situation described is slightly eerie. However, it is worth paying attention to statistics, which, by the way, refutes the arguments of opponents of the juvenile system in Russia. In the same European countries (where the Norwegian system of juvenile law is taken), the number of crimes against minors (beatings in the family, cases of murder or rape of children by own parents, improper care, etc.) decreased sharply with the beginning of the application of certain measures. However, domestic violence is only one tenth of all crimes used against minors. Therefore, juvenile justice is a very narrowly focused system. Then why is she given so much attention? This question remains open.

Of course, you need to think critically and carefully consider the positions for, and against. A competent comparison of the facts will give a clear understanding of what juvenile justice is and what its role in the life of society is.