Chinese delegation at Leiden Law School for juvenile justice study visit
From 21 August to 24 August, a Chinese delegation together with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) conducted a study visit to Leiden Law School at Leiden University. Leiden Law School’s Child Law Department organized the study trip.
The aim of the study visit was to get acquainted with Dutch juvenile criminal law. The Chinese delegation consisted of social workers, public prosecutors and social and legal academics. Through this study visit the RWI aimed to deepen its knowledge of and insight in children’s rights to contribute to an enhanced juvenile justice system in China.
The Child Law Department developed an intensive program which enabled the delegation to familiarize itself with the Dutch juvenile justice system in a short period of time. The delegation visited Bureau Halt (a Dutch organization preventing juvenile crime), Forensic Centrum Teylingereind (a juvenile rehabilitative institution), Defence for Children (a non-governmental organization advancing children’s rights), a Security House (a multidisciplinary alliance of governmental agencies combating crime) and the resocialization-oriented coffee bar ‘Heilige Boontjes’ in Rotterdam. Moreover, an extensive and multidisciplinary symposium was organized that featured juvenile criminal law and children’s rights related to the Dutch and the Chinese juvenile justice system. The study visit commenced with an official word of welcome by Prof. Joanne van der Leun, Dean of Leiden Law School. The Chinese delegation has indicated to have acquired new knowledge and insights into the juvenile justice system and experienced the visit as inspiring.
