NCFA and UNHCR Lunch Guidance Manual for Non-Custodial Measures
08-16-2023
During the periodic meeting of the Steering and Technical Committee for Juvenile Justice. The National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) jointly launched today, Wednesday, at the Judicial Institute building, the analytical study and guidance manual for non-custodial measures for juveniles.
The Secretary-General, Dr. Mohammad Miqdadi, asserted the importance of coordinated joint efforts to accomplish and ensure the success of projects. He also pointed out the full attention and support given to the juvenile issue, which serves their best interests.
A study and guide have been prepared in light of the framework of projects carried out by the Council in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to boost the rights of juveniles in Jordan. He added.
Miqdadi stressed that the importance of preparing the analytical study on non-custodial measures is to identify gaps and shortcomings in the implementation of these measures so that they can be addressed and rectified through collaboration with all stakeholders.
The guidance manual aims to provide an applicable, practical and methodological reference tool that addresses those dealing with juveniles in general, with a particular focus on non-custodial measures within a framework of procedures that align with international standards, national legislation, and best practices. He said.
On his part, the Secretary-General of the Judicial Council, Judge Ali Al-Musaimi, emphasized the difficulty of applying legal sanctions to juveniles, which prompted judges to unify their efforts to enrich this guide by building upon the international standards and relevant domestic laws, in addition to seeking the assistance of psychological and social experts.
He also pointed out that the council is considered a national judicial institution for training and for forging partnerships between national institutions, especially since this meeting aims to unify efforts in managing all matters related to the juveniles.
Furthermore, Al-Musaimi emphasized the importance of collaborative work among the parties involved in restorative justice for juveniles, highlighting the key issues addressed by the committee, such as alternative measures related to juveniles, conflict resolution related to them, the application of mechanisms for the best interests of the child, and achieving protection and care through optimal adherence to international standards.
In turn, Col. Qais Al-Gharaibeh, Deputy Director of the Juvenile and Family Protection Department, stated that the department provides the best services to juveniles, steering them away from legal disputes and courtroom proceedings. He emphasized prioritizing the best interests of the child by collectively focusing on building a restorative justice approach for juveniles, reducing their delinquency toward crimes, and resorting to conflict resolution in cases where the juvenile is the perpetrator of a crime.
For his part, Assistant Secretary-General of the Ministry of Social Development, Dr. Bashar Al-Dalaeen, explained that implementing non-custodial measures will reflect positively on the Ministry continuous efforts to reform and rehabilitate juveniles by sparing them “social stigma” and keep them segregated from criminal offenders when they referred to rehabilitation and correction centers and reducing the financial expenses of these centers.
Implementing the study's provisions confirms the government's commitment to adopting the modern and innovative concept of juvenile justice in collaboration with relevant institutions, and he called for expanding the implementation of measures to achieve their goal of rehabilitating and recorrecting juveniles. He added.
For her part, Taiba Al-Sharif, Head of the Protection Department at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, indicated that this meeting comes as evidence of the seriousness of building the criminal justice system in a way that keeps abreast with contemporary developments and challenges, emphasizing that the Commission looks forward to strengthening the justice system and providing an enhanced environment for the common good.
Additionally, Dr. Talal Al-Abdallat, the author of the study, presented analyzes and statistics on non-custodial measures for juveniles and the requirements for their application. The expert in the study, Dr. Osama Al-Manasa, broached on clarifying the items of the study’s guidance manual.
In this connection, it is recalled that non-custodial measures are defined as “An alternative sentence imposed on convicted individuals, which, according to evidence, is an alternative chosen by the judge to replace a prison sentence with a service that the prisoner serves for a specific segment of society with the aim of rehabilitating them and protecting them from harm, while also serving the community”.
Those non-custodial measures would contribute to educating juveniles, training them in occupations useful to society, and encouraging them to stay away from criminal behavior by giving them an opportunity for reform combined with maintaining their freedom, which necessitates positive integration into society and serving the common good, away from mixing them with the criminals within the prisons and rehabilitation and correction centers.
