NCJ Number
164982
Date Published
1996
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This overview of Russia's juvenile justice system describes the principal agencies that deal with juveniles, the legally mandated procedures for processing juvenile offenders, informal mechanisms used to divert juveniles from the formal system, and changes that are occurring or are likely to occur in the handling of juvenile offenders.
Abstract
The juvenile justice system in both Soviet and post-Soviet Russia is not as well defined and distinct from the adult criminal justice system as it is in the United States; there is no separate juvenile or family court. The fundamentals of Russian legislation and criminal procedure that pertain to the handling of children and youth have not changed substantially in more than 30 years, apart from some administrative and procedural changes. The age of criminal responsibility in Russia is 16. For certain serious crimes, however, that age is reduced to 14. The Commissions on Juvenile Affairs (CJA's) were first established in 1918. They formalized communal or collective responsibility for children and youth around the local soviets of the Communist Party. From the time of their creation and continuing through the end of 1991, they played the primary role in preventing and controlling juvenile delinquency in Russia. The CJA's have operated much like a family court in many cases, holding hearings and issuing dispositions. Dispositions have included instructing youth to apologize to their victims or reprimanding them; ordering them to pay fines and restitution; giving them over to the supervision of their parents, social workers, or the collective at a place of work; putting them on a kind of probation; and committing them to special schools for mentally ill or handicapped children or to special technical schools. The inspectorates on juvenile affairs handle the initial investigations or "inspections" into any offenses of juveniles. Other primary institutions that dispense juvenile justice are the procurator, the court, and the institutions of correction called colonies. In addition to profiling the basic structure and operations of juvenile justice agencies, this paper considers contemporary issues and problems, arrest and pretrial detention, diversion, residential placement, and correctional labor colonies. In discussing the outlook for juvenile justice in Russia, the author notes that because of the ongoing social and political upheavals in Russia, juvenile crime will continue to increase; and both the formal and informal social controls in the country have broken down. This will influence the future of juvenile justice in Russia. 9 references and appended decree by the President of the Russian Federation on the prevention of neglect of juveniles and juvenile delinquency and the protection of their rights