Justice Ministry launches joint project on juvenile probation

The project, “the Development of an Effective Risk Evaluation System for Children in Turkish Probation Services Project” (DENGE) - Juvenile Probation Program will be implemented by the ministry, General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses Probation Department and with the technical support of UNICEF. The program is being co-financed by the EU, UNICEF and Turkey with an implementation budget of 2 million euros. 

The opening ceremony of the project, which will be implemented in 21 designated pilot provinces in Turkey, was held on June 8 with the attendance of representatives from the Justice Ministry, the EU delegation to Turkey, the Central Finance and Contracts Unit and UNICEF, as well as NGO officials and academics, representatives of national and international agencies and the media.

“While one in every six people is under the age of 18 in the European population, one in every three people is under the age of 18 in our country. Therefore, it is our primary objective in the justice system to prevent our 25 million children, whom we see as the guarantee of our future, from committing crimes, to take them out of the negative environments they find themselves in, and to ensure that committing crime does not become a lifestyle for them,” Deputy Minister of Justice Bilal Uçar said during the opening ceremony.

The project’s main principles are to ensure that judicial authorities act in the best interest of the child in all actions regarding children, that children should be deprived of their liberty only as a last resort and that children and young people should have access to services that are in accordance with their situation.