The Croatian National Parliament has appointed Mrs. Jelavic the Ombudsman for Children in 2006. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Law and records 23 years of service, with entire work to date dealing with the protection of child and family rights.

From 2001 to the date of appointment to the Ombudsman for Children Office, she worked as the Head of the Department for Protection of Children, Families and Guardianship of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

Mrs. Jelavic participated in the work of the task force drafting the Initial Report on the Situation of Child Rights in the Republic of Croatia according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and coordinator of the task force for the drafting of the Second Report.

In addition, she is a member of the task force for the drafting of the Strategy for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination. She is also a member of the task force for the preparation of negotiations for Chapter 23 of acquis communautaire of the European Union – „Legislation and Basic Rights“.

In addition, Mrs. Jelavic participated in the drafting of many legal regulations concerning the protection of children's rights and wellbeing. She has also published professional papers.

QUESTION.- What is the situation of children in Croatia? And how does the Ombudsperson for Children Republic of Croatia ensure effective protection of children in the cases of violation of their rights?

ANSWER.- The Republic of Croatia is a state which has signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This means that it took on all the obligations stemming from the Convention and, to this effect, amended its laws and regulations and aligned them with this international document. The Ombudsperson for Children protects, monitors and promotes the rights and interests of children on the basis of the Constitution, international agreements and laws (Article 2 of the Ombudsperson for Children Act, OG 96/03). The Ombudsperson does so by dealing with individual complaints of violations of children's rights, launching general initiatives, participating in expert and scientific meetings, issuing public statements, co-operating with international organisations, and in other ways. She is authorised to issue warnings, proposals and recommendations. Our aim is to achieve effective protection of children's interests by carefully assessing the child's best interests in each individual case, in relation to each complaint about violations of children's rights we receive, through ongoing co-operation and communication and also by putting forward objections, issuing warnings and seeking changes in the work of the bodies in charge of implementing laws in a particular case.

In 2008, the Office of the Ombudsperson dealt with 989 individual complaints of violations of children's rights and 1,086 cases involving general initiatives, whose aim is to work proactively, in a desire to anticipate and prevent harmful activities putting children at risk and to help strengthen comprehensive child protection. One of the most common reasons for filing complaints to the Ombudsperson was violence against children and among children. However, there have also been complaints about suffering that children undergo during highly conflicted divorces of their parents.

During 2008, the Office participated in the passing of 22 laws and other regulations by providing proposals. Unfortunately, although our proposals and recommendations were generally confirmed to be well-founded, many of them were not incorporated into these laws unless they were also accepted by the entity proposing the law. Only ¼ of our proposals was accepted and incorporated into laws.

Q.- What are the main strategies and objectives for the State as well as the civil society to protect children in the postwar context?

A.- One of the consequences of the war and post-war and transition-related developments is the economic insecurity and poverty of Croatian citizens, which is inevitably reflected on the quality of life of children, especially in the areas that were occupied and subsequently reintegrated in the Republic of Croatia. Another consequence of the suffering endured by the population during the war is a large number of PTSD patients, mainly veterans, which is inevitably reflected on the quality of interpersonal dynamics within their families and the protection of children's interests. We would like to stress that non-governmental organisations have contributed greatly to the efforts aimed at re-building communities and working with traumatised population in the reintegrated territory. The Government of the Republic of Croatia also adopted the National Strategy for Protection against Domestic Violence 2008-2010.

In the Croatian Danube Region (Hrvatsko Podunavlje), children of Croatian and Serbian ethnic origins still receive education separately. With the assistance of scholars from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, who participated in a study on separate education systems, and the NGO Nansen Dialogue Centre, which has developed the New School Project for Integrated Education of All Children, attempts are being made to heal divisions between children. The Office of the Ombudsperson for Children is also involved in this project. The Office provided support for the integrated education project, and found it to be in line with children's best interests.

The Office of the Ombudsperson also participates in other activities aimed at protecting children affected by the war and its consequences, which is in line with the National Action Plan for the Rights and Interests of Children 2006-2012. One of the important activities within the Office's scope of work is raising awareness of the need to protect children from mines and unexploded ordnance, in particular by giving recommendations to the competent bodies and by participating in public debates and round table discussions on this topic.

The Act on the Rights of Homeland War Veterans and Their Family Members (OG 174/04 and 92/05) prescribes that children of Homeland War veterans are entitled to a family disability benefits and a survivors' pension while in regular education or until employment, but for no longer than 12 months following the completion of their education. When participating in recruitment procedures after completing their education, these children are given priority over job candidates meeting the same requirements. They are also entitled to acquire shares in certain companies. The children of killed, interned or missing veterans and the children of disabled Homeland War veterans are entitled to free textbooks during elementary and secondary education and get priority for placement in pupils' or students' homes.

Q.- What is the actual situation of juvenile delinquency in Croatia? What figures and details would you stress on?

A.- For the past several years, there has been no drastic increase in juvenile delinquency. For instance, during 2008, a total of 3,896 juvenile perpetrators of criminal offences were reported, which was a fall of 1.4% in comparison with 2007, but offences have taken more serious forms and there have been more offences with elements of violence. The number of re-offenders is rising, which is an indication of insufficient effectiveness of the prevention and intervention systems. The majority of preventive activities are carried out by the social welfare system, which is already overburdened, while other systems (e.g. educational system) are rather passive when it comes to prevention and early intervention.

We are concerned about the lack of separate accommodation facilities for juveniles in detention centres, since they are mostly accommodated together with adult detainees. We are also concerned about the fact that alternative sanctions cannot be implemented due to insufficient number of counselling centres to which juveniles could be referred.

Q.- The IJJO has recently developed the International Campaign, on legal assistance for children in conflict with the law, taking into account that you are member of the Executive Board of the International Association for Criminal Law (AIDP); what is your perspective and point of view regarding legal assistance situation for children in conflict with the law?

A.- In Croatia, juvenile delinquency cases are dealt with pursuant to the Juvenile Courts Act, which is a lex specialis within the criminal law system. It has been in force for 11 years now and it was drafted on the model of contemporary juvenile laws in Europe. It is in full compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and with modern approaches to treating juvenile perpetrators of criminal offences. The emphasis is on education, and not on punishment, and priority is given to the application of alternative sanctions, wherever possible.

This Act contains many child-specific provisions, taking into account their specific developmental needs. For instance, criminal proceedings involving juveniles are conducted by special divisions composed of juvenile judges, and public prosecutors are also specially trained for work with juveniles. Both the judges and the public prosecutors are appointed for a period of 5 years and must show strong inclinations for working with children. They also attend special training sessions aimed at raising the level of their sensitivity towards children and knowledge on how to interact with them. Juvenile divisions also employ various expert associates (social pedagogues or psychologists or social workers), who work with children throughout judicial proceedings. The same judge conducts both the pre-trial and trial proceedings, and, after the decision becomes final, he or she supervises the enforcement and the quality of implementation of the sanction imposed. All proceedings are held in camera and may not be covered by the media.

Pre-trial detention may only be imposed in exceptional cases, and for the shortest possible duration. The maximum statutory length of pre-trial detention for minors is three months. Imprisonment may only be imposed on minors who were older than 16 years of age at the time of the commission of the offence. Those who were younger than 16 may only receive correctional sanctions.

The age of criminal responsibility is fourteen. Children under fourteen may only be subject to family-law protection measures defined by the Family Act.

We must point out that, despite good legal solutions for responding to juvenile crime, many difficulties are encountered when implementing and enforcing correctional measures, which the Office has already mentioned on several occasions in its statements, recommendations, warnings and proposals.

Q.- In which context was approved the Croatian Criminal Law for juveniles, and what are the main principals of this text? In the Juveniles Courts Act (JCA) which is the place given to provision measures? Please provide the link of the criminal law for juveniles document.

A.- The Juvenile Courts Act is applicable to juvenile perpetrators of criminal offences who were between 14 and 18 years of age at the time when the offence was committed, but, in some cases, it may also be applied to young adult offenders, i.e. those under 21 years of age. The Act also regulates certain issues relating to the protection of children under criminal law. The main principle is that minors' behaviour should be modified through care and education, and repressive measures should only be applied in the case of the most serious offences and persistent re-offending. The emphasis is laid on alternative sanctions. In 2008, 50% of cases were settled during the preliminary pre-trial phase of the proceedings by imposing alternative sanctions. This had a twofold effect, i.e. minors were motivated to change their behaviour and court workload was reduced.

Q.- What circumstances are meant by 'risk factors' nowadays in Croatia regarding future delinquency? What are the initiatives in order to prevent children living with augmented risk factors to become a future offender?

A.- Risk factors are the same as elsewhere in Europe: material insecurity, negative influence of the media, weakening of the role of the family in bringing up children, use of passive-permissive educational methods, etc. When it comes to prevention, some initiatives have been launched in Croatia, but insufficiently and without co-ordination. More attention should be paid to early prevention and low-risk factors, to prevent situation from becoming more complex (primary prevention). The majority of preventive programmes of this type should be implemented in schools, leisure-time organisations and NGOs. We are also concerned about the increase in the number of reports of children under the age of criminal responsibility (younger than 14) and also about public 'demonisation' of children exhibiting behavioural problems and those who participated in criminal offences.

Q.- According to the child legal system in Croatia, are prevention measures foreseen?, in this case, are they implemented? and in which extent?

Preventive measures are insufficiently developed and integrated into laws. This is precisely why they do not produce the expected results. There are no early detection or intervention systems for children exposed to risk factors, and it would be most appropriate to implement these systems in schools. Primary prevention activities are carried out by counselling services at Family Centres, institutions within the competence of the Ministry of the Family, Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity. As regards secondary prevention, the existing measures and intervention responses implemented in Croatian laws have proved to be insufficiently effective, which is shown by a high frequency rate of re-offending among children and minors.

Q.- What is the situation of juvenile in detention in Croatia and what about young adults in custody, are young adults allowed to finish their custodial measure within the juvenile justice system? Approximately how many minors are in custody currently?

A.- Pursuant to the Juvenile Courts Act, minors may be kept in pre-trial detention for a maximum period of three months during the proceedings. Prison sentence may only be imposed on minors who were older than 16 years of age at the time when the offence was committed, and only for the most serious offences, if the court assesses that the purpose of punishment cannot be achieved by correctional measures. Young adults may be subject to correctional measures until they turn 23.

On 31 December 2008, the two Croatian reformatories housed 47 children.

Q.- What instruments do the Croatia juvenile justice system dispose to help to prevent juvenile reoffending? What kind of programmes are running currently? What is the juvenile reoffending rate in Croatia?

A.- The purpose of applying all correctional measures is to achieve what is called 'special prevention', i.e. to prevent offenders from re-offending. Correctional measures are applied on a gradual basis, that is to say, a minor who repeats the offence is given a stricter correctional sanction. Correctional measures, amongst other things, include treatment for drug addiction, counselling, intensified care and supervision, disciplining, daily stay in a social welfare institution, permanent placement in a correctional institution involving varying types of treatment programmes.

We are concerned about the fact that 36% of minors (1,401) re-offended in 2008, of whom 640 (45.7%) had already been given a sanction.

Q.- Regarding the juvenile justice system across Europe, what kind of collaboration does exist between Croatia and the others member states of the European Union? Do exists bilateral agreements? Does the EU itself provide following up in the field of juvenile justice?

A.- As far as we know, there is a bilateral co-operation programme between the Ministry of Justice and the German Foundation for International Legal Assistance (IRZ Foundation), as part of which a seminar was organised at the Croatian Bar Association on the topic 'Juvenile Crime, Adolescent Victims, Juvenile Courts'. Also, the 'Children in the Union – Rights and Empowerment' project is implemented in partnership with Sweden. The subject of this project is the protection of children – victims of crime.

Q.- What psychological, mental help resources are available for youths with such needs in Croatia (meaning minors living with augmented risk factors and actual offenders as well)? Are there officially any specific units for this target group?

A.- There are counselling centres operating within non-governmental organisations. Counselling services are also provided at Family Centres, which deal exclusively with primary prevention of mental health problems. When it comes to secondary prevention, currently there are no counselling centres for children and youth who have already experienced problems in behaviour and/or mental functioning, and the Office of the Ombudsperson has raised this issue before the competent bodies on several occasions, and issued warnings and recommendations about the need to establish such counselling centres. The Act on the Enforcement of Sanctions against Minors for Criminal Offences and Misdemeanours will soon enter into force, which will solve this problem to a certain extent. The Office gave comments and recommendations about some of its provisions. As regards the problem of addiction, there are counselling centres in the non-governmental sector. Each county has a Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of Addiction, operating within the competence of the Ministry of Health.

As to child and adolescent psychiatry services in hospitals, we must point out that there is only one specialist hospital for child and adolescent psychiatry in Croatia, located in Zagreb. Some of larger Clinical Hospitals have child and adolescent psychiatry wards, where children mostly receive treatment on an outpatient basis or are only hospitalised for short periods. However, all these facilities are insufficient in terms of the current needs for this kind of treatment in our society. One psychiatry hospital in Croatia has an in-patient unit for children, which was visited on several occasions by the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children, when unlawful and unprofessional conduct in work with children was detected. Following an initiative of the Office and on the basis of its recommendations to the competent bodies, the situation in this institution has improved when it comes to the protection of the rights and interests of children receiving in-patient treatment.

The Office of the Ombudsperson has undertaken and continues to undertake a number of measures and activities aimed at the protection of children suffering from behavioural problems in combination with mental difficulties.