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RESCUE OF CHILDREN
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While the rescue of children forms an integral part of the judicial involvement of children, it is also a process that is intertwined with the third component of this plan, rescue, recovery and reintegration. The discussion of this process shall be dealt with comprehensively in this program component (II).
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ISSUES, STRATEGIES, AND TASKS
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Response to child abuse cases requires a more systematic, standardized and integrated approach. The Multidisciplinary Team Approach is one strategy that can minimize the occurrence of double victimization. The present set-up of the response to child abuse does not allow the immediate activation of a multidisciplinary approach as there are several issues that have to be addressed. These issues relate directly to the premise that children who are involved in the judicial process include three categories: those who fall as victims, those called as witnesses and those who are alleged offenders or have been found to be offenders.
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Reporting of and Responding to Individual Cases Involving Children
Involvement of children in the judicial process should not only include a unified process but also a multi-level process that would be able to respond to the different needs of these children.
As mentioned, the child as victim of any type of abuse, exploitation, and discrimination would elicit different lines of questioning and require another type of intervention. The Child as a witness to a crime would require some other type of intervention to facilitate his testimony. The child in conflict with the law should be regarded as a victim and not just as an alleged offender and this would also require a different approach.
Children as victims and/or witnesses
The Supreme Court has already issued the Rule on Examination of a Child Witness with the objective of creating and maintaining "an environment that will allow children to give reliable and complete evidence, minimize trauma to children, encourage children to testify in legal proceedings, and facilitate the ascertainment of truth".
In keeping with this objective, other pillars who may intervene in a case involving a child before it reaches the courts should also adopt complementary procedures in interviewing the child as well as preparing them for preliminary investigations and eventual court hearings.
Children as Alleged Offenders/in Conflict with the Law
The Articles 37, 39 and 40 of the UN CRC, the Beijing Rules, the Riyadh Guidelines, the United Nations Rules for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency and current national laws on child protection have established the need to set up a comprehensive juvenile justice system. New rules and procedures specifically designed for handling cases of children - whether as the suspect, accused, offended party or victim, witness or the subject of litigation should be formulated and used by the five pillars of the criminal justice system. The Supreme Court has initiated this effort with the issuance of the Child Witness Rules and the Rules on Juveniles in Conflict with the Law.
Tasks
- Passage of the law, which provides for a Comprehensive Juvenile Justice System.
- Develop a Juvenile Justice System Manual.
- Sustain and intensify training for the human resource components of the five pillars of the criminal justice system and develop complementary operational and training manuals for shared as well as specific purposes appropriate to each pillar.
- Advocate and develop a Child Witness Protection Program under the existing Witness Protection Program of Government which includes the improvement of the current Memorandum of Agreement between the DSWD and the DOJ on Child Witness Protection and the conduct of training for all concerned.
- Draft and enhance the protocol and stratify responses according to the level of judicial involvement of children be they victim, witness or alleged offender.
- Integrate existing protocols and modify accordingly.
- Include the protocol in the training curriculum of duty holders.
- Train a core group of duty holders representing all relevant agencies on case management for each level and create a multidisciplinary / interagency team to act on these cases.
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