Mongolian Justice team studies ‘Model’ NZ Youth Justice and Child Protection Systems

A delegation of senior officials of the Mongolian Government and Judiciary will be in Wellington the week 22-26 November to find out about New Zealand’s family law, youth justice and child protection systems.

The group, which includes Mongolia’s Deputy Minister of Justice, a Supreme Court Judge, the Head Officer and Senior Officer of the policy unit of the Ministry of Justice and a child protection official, will be hosted by UNICEF NZ.

They will visit the Youth Court, the Family Violence Court, and a Youth Justice institution. They will meet with judges and with senior officials in the Justice and Social Development Ministries as well as with the Children’s Commissioner.

The delegation is part of a working group set up by the Mongolian Government to work on Family Law revision and sees New Zealand as a model country for implementing family law legislation and integrating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the policy and legislative framework.

Dennis McKinlay, executive director of UNICEF NZ says the visit is yet another example of New Zealand’s world class youth justice system being admired and seen as a model to emulate by countries in the developing world. There was a visit by a delegation from Timor Leste last year.

“New Zealand needs to retain, build on and adequately resource our youth justice system to produce the best results, he said.

“We need to avoid the situation of children and young people entering the criminal justice system at an early stage of their lives. It is well evidenced that this can lead to further encounters with the justice system as they grow into adults, something we can ill afford in either economic or social contexts”.

The Mongolian delegation will meet with the Youth Court, Family Court and Family Violence Court judges for insights into how the system is administered here.

ENDS

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