Convention on the Rights of the Child and Polish Constitution give children the right to express their views on matters that concern them. They may participate in legal proceedings, tell about circumstances of committed offence, express their opinions. Children perceive and describe reality differently than adults, they experience different feelings during legal proceedings. Representatives of the judiciary often do not guarantee them friendly participation in proceedings and rarely give them opportunity to be heard in civil proceedings.
The aim of the project was to prepare children taking part in legal procedures for participating in hearings and to ensure a more child-friendly judicial process. It was also to prepare professionals for a proper contact with a child when he/she has been a witness/victim of committed offence or if he/she is to be heard in civil proceedings.
Meetings and training sessions were conducted for 32 children to prepare them for testifying in criminal proceedings. 29 parents learned how to accompany their children during criminal proceedings interviews. Also 289 professionals were trained on how to interview children and on providing assistance to children.
The first in Poland study on hearing and interviewing children in civil proceedings was prepared (legal expertise, examination of judicial documents related to child interviewed during proceedings related to parental authority, survey on opinions of children participating in hearings and interviews), as well as a study on children participating in criminal proceedings.
Standards for hearing and interviewing children and recommendations for judges and expert psychologists were developed. Judges took part in training. An instructional video and guidebooks for children and youth and people involved in criminal proceedings were prepared. Two social campaigns were launched: “Thank you for hearing me”, “Hearing of a child is an art”.
The project beneficiaries were children and youth participating in legal proceedings, their parents and legal guardians. The project partner, the Government Agency for Child Protection from Iceland, prepared a study visit in the Centre of Hearing of Children in Reykyavik. Three Polish partners cooperated in carrying out the project tasks and promoted the results locally: the Association for Children and Youth Chance, the Society for Helping Children and Families “Homini” in Grudziądz and the Polish Association of Pedagogues and Animators Klanza.