OSCE Office shares international experience on justice administration in Armenia

Life imprisonment and child friendly justice standards in European criminal law were among the topics discussed at an OSCE-supported seminar held on 5 November 2014 in Yerevan.

The event was organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Helsinki Committee of Armenia and aimed to introduce the international best practice related to the life imprisonment and the position of young adults in criminal law.

“Our Office supports the undergoing legal and judicial reforms in the country and seeks to assist in making the process of raising the effectiveness of criminal justice and criminal punishments more transparent and inclusive”, said Radka Rubilina, Human Rights Programme Officer at the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

Professor Goran Simic, the University of Travnik of Bosnia and Herzegovina, , spoke about the purpose of criminal sanctions, types of punishment, effects of imprisonment and policies aimed at rehabilitation of young and adult offenders and ways of crime prevention from the perspective of the other states. He also introduced the essential features of modern criminal sanctions with special emphasis on life term imprisonment and young adults, 18 to 21 years of age.

Seminar participants included representatives from the Armenian judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Human Rights Defender’s Office, National Assembly, international organizations and civil society.