The LRC has obtained a grant from the European Union to implement a justice for children project captioned; “Justice for Children: Bridging the Gap between Legislation and Practice”. The aim of this Justice for Children Project is to facilitate access of children in the justice for children delivery system. This is expected to guarantee the rights of children who come into conflict and in contact with the law.
To attain the project goal and objectives, the focus is to facilitate the reform of laws, policies and procedures to improve access to justice for children. Specific interventions include the provision of legal services/assistance to at least 350 children in conflict with the law in all the 10 Regions of Ghana during arrest, investigation, pre-trial, trial and committal. Again, LRC will work to increase the capacity of security agencies and paralegals in promoting and protecting the rights of children, through the training of 500 security officers and 150 paralegals.
The Justice for Children Project will also develop a software that will link the police, lawyers and paralegals to track juvenile cases especially at the point where a juvenile is being processed, as well as an app to facilitate reporting instances of children in conflict with the law.
It is expected that this Project would contribute to strengthening legal and institutional frameworks through practical targeted interventions to enhance the child justice system for the protection and promotion of the rights of children in Ghana.
LRC’s efforts in contributing to the strengthening of the child justice system and bridging the gap between policy and practice will further demonstrate Ghana’s moral and legal pledge to protect its youth from life’s exploitations, preserve their freedoms and guarantee their welfare for development!
