Mobile Child Justice Team
Global Rights Compliance’s (GRC) Mobile Child Justice Team (MCJT) is working towards strengthening the investigation and prosecution of crimes against and affecting children (CAAC) in Ukraine, with a particular emphasis on ensuring they are conducted in a manner that is victim-centred, child-sensitive, trauma-informed and that meaningfully implements child-friendly justice processes. With team members based in-country and abroad, the MCJT is pursuing its objectives by providing technical and strategic expertise to the Juvenile Justice Department (JJD) of the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG), the Juvenile Justice Units in regional prosecutors’ offices (RPOs) and investigative entities in Ukraine. These activities fall under “Support to the Investigation and Prosecution of Atrocity Crimes in Ukraine (EU Phase II)”, a project funded by the European Union.
Our Services and Activities
- Strengthening local efforts to build cases against those most responsible for CAAC, especially at the political and military leadership level, by providing tailored legal advice and analysis.
- Designing operational plans and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to institutionalise comprehensive and standardised approaches to child-friendly investigations and case building processes, including a Best Interests of the Child Assessment Procedure.
- Developing and promoting national policies and procedures for investigating and prosecuting CAAC in a victim-centred, child-sensitive and trauma-informed manner, including a “Strategic Plan on Pre-Trial Investigations and Court Proceedings Related to Conflict-Related Crimes against and affecting Children Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict (2024-2026)” for the OPG.
- Providing professional training programmes for investigators, prosecutors, judges and legal professionals on international legal frameworks, standards and best practices, including on the Best Interests of the Child Assessment Procedure developed by the MCJT.
- Developing and distributing specialist legal resources tailored to Ukraine’s legal context, including SOPs for the investigation and prosecution of CAAC, an investigation plan template and a comprehensive legal framework applicable to the system of indoctrination and militarisation of children in occupied Ukrainian territory.
Partners
The project is funded by the European Union. In the delivery of the MCJT’s services/activities, the MCJT works in collaboration with the JJD, the OPG, Juvenile Justice Units in the RPOs, Ukrainian investigators, Ukrainian civil society organisations and the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine (ACA). ACA is a joint initiative of the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom – in partnership with the Government of Ukraine – that was established as an advisory body to provide non-binding advice to the OPG and/or RPOs on matters related to the investigation and prosecution of international crimes.