Juveniles

Under the Responsibility of Juveniles for Illegal Acts and the Justice in Juvenile Matters Act, the Probation and Mediation Service is entitled to assist in juvenile matters in pre-trial stage. The aims are renewing disrupted social relations, the inclusion of a child under 15 or a juvenile in the family and social environment, and decreasing a risk of repeating unlawful conduct in the future. A public prosecutor or a judge may impose some of the educational measures stipulated by the law already at this stage of the criminal proceedings with the young offender’s consent. Probation officers specialised in work with young people are entitled to enforce the measures, in particular, the probation supervision, probation programs, educational measures and other sanctions. The law defines a probation program as a program of social training, psychological consultancy, and programs including community service, an educational or a therapeutic program.