The Ombudsman for Children and Youths (OKAJU) organised a summer seminar concerned with the introduction of a criminal law relating to young offenders.
Participants of the seminar included representatives from the areas of pedagogy and the judiciary.
The exchange allowed participants to view the issue from different perspectives. Ombudsman Charel Schmit explained: "Everyone agreed that the introduction of juvenile justice represents significant progress. Of course there are still areas in need of improvement, and caution has to be paid as to not become overly repressive."
Prof Stefan Braum from the University of Luxembourg emphasised that not every small incident should be followed up by legal consequences.
Daniel Kigger, who works with young offenders, explained that it is not the job of the police to become educators: "Our role is more complex than just finding offences. I think we should also raise awareness, meaning that we speak to young offenders about the expectations that they violated."
Another issue that people saw in the draft law is that the Central Social Assistance Service (SCAS) remains affiliated to the prosecutor's office, which puts the independence of the office into question.
