The United Nation convention on the rights of the child : are children "in conflict with law" really protected? : a case study of Republic of Albania's juvenile justice system.

This thesis aims to provide a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the implications of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) with regard to the administration of juvenile justice in Albania. The central questions addressed are what overall approach does the CRC, as the guiding framework, adopt towards children in conflict with the law; what overall approach does Albania adopts towards children in conflict with the law; and what does being part of the juvenile justice system mean for a young Albanian person? Mixed methods are utilised to analyse research and provide a theoretical working basis of the thesis. As such, a detailed legal analysis of the available literature, CRC, and other relevant international instruments was performed in order to ascertain the international standards and norms applied to the juvenile justice system. Examining juvenile justice in Albania involved in-depth policy and legal analysis of domestic legislation and policy papers relating to juvenile justice, in addition to shedding light on the policymaking process and local implementation itself through qualitative interviews at the Ministry of Justice in Albania and child-oriented local and international NGOs. These were combined with survey results to provide a more rounded picture concerning both the formal aspects of the system and the reality as experienced by those subjected to it. The general conclusion of the thesis is that the present juvenile justice in Albania fails to implement, in full, the articles of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and UN Norms on Juvenile Justice. No diversionary measures from the criminal justice system are available to children in conflict with the law. The juveniles are tried at juvenile sections of courts under the same procedure and conditions that apply to adult offenders. There is a lack of a childoriented approach on alternative measures to deprivation of liberty, the effective implementation of which is currently not supported by the institutional mechanisms. Similarly, the penitentiary system dealing with children deprived of liberty, whilst violating juvenile rights, fails to comply with juvenile reintegration and the juvenile assuming a constructive role in society. The study concludes by proposing a set of recommendations and actions for implementing international standards, concerning domestic legislation and enforcement, including awareness raising and training.