EU Directive 2016/800 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings establishes that legal authorities shall ensure that children are informed about their rights (Article 4 and Whereas Clause 19). This new European framework, which should have been transposed to Spanish legislation by June 2019, but is already applicable under the doctrine of vertical direct effect applicable to non-transposed directives intended to create rights. Hence, there is an urgent need to start developing instruments and materials that help agents of the juvenile justice system appropriately inform children who are suspects in criminal proceedings about how such proceedings are conducted.
This was the aim behind the creation of the “Let's be clear” project, overseen by the Research Group in Criminology and Juvenile Delinquency at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. This knowledge transfer project, which is intended to make use of all the knowledge the group has developed over the years on young offenders’ experience of the juvenile justice system, takes the concrete form of a collection of accessible documents directed at juveniles suspected of engaging in criminal behaviours who find themselves involved in judicial proceedings. The ultimate aim is to help familiarise them with the different procedural steps they will be exposed to and their rights at each stage. These documents are for public use and free of charge, so we encourage interested professionals to make free use of them, see below the different supports developed.
This project received funding from the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha Justicia penal para todos. Un estudio del funcionamiento y la accesibilidad de la justicia penal (SBPLY/17/180501/000271) and the University of Castilla-La Mancha's Internal Research Plan.