The National Commission for Children’s Rights (NCCR) has urged the Council of Ministers (CM) to discuss about the youth justice draft law before 2017.
NCCR President Commissioner Maria Barreto said the law was very important to protect children who were in trouble with the law.
“I am concerned because in 2017 we will have the parliamentary and presidential elections, if we postpone it I am sure that it will be pending again,” she said.
She said there were two laws in this context: the special regime law for youth in the justice system aged 16 to 20 and another referring to educational options for minors aged 12 to 15 who have committed a crime.
With the number of children committing crimes on the rise, she said the law was necessary to protect their rights within the justice system.
“In Becora prison, the number of children [incarcerated] is increasing [and] this shows that we need to pay attention to those laws to protect children,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers, Avelino Maria Coelho da Silva, said the proposed law was with the Council, but had not yet been rescheduled for discussion.
He was unable to give a specific date for when it would be rescheduled as many issues also needed to be discussed first.
Meanwhile, the President of National Parliament MP Aderito Hugo said the parliament supported the legislation, but it had not yet been passed to them for discussion.
Once the law was with parliament, he said MPs were prepared to make it a priority.
He acknowledged that while the government had made some efforts to protect children’s rights, it needed to be strengthened through specific legislation.
