Within the Legal Education and Active Participation (LEAP) program a Manual on productive work with the Investigative Committee on juvenile justice cases and support the victim, witness and the accused children during an investigation was developed for school educators, but specifically psychologists. Two LEAP experts, a psychologist and a legal expert worked on the manual that includes legal and psychological sections related to the investigative proceeding of juvenile victims and witnesses.
On June 18 and 19, following the development and publication of the Manual on Effective Participation of Psychologists in Investigation of Juvenile Victims and Witnesses, PH International with close cooperation of the RA Ministry of Education and Science and the State Investigative Committee organized a training program for 17 psychologists from Yerevan, Kotayk, Armavir and Ararat regions. An additional group of 5 public defenders from the same regions also joined the training sessions led by two experts who are also the authors of the Manual.
During the first day of the training the process of the criminal cae, the terms used in criminal proceeding and brief information about the participants were presented, the best interest of the child and obligation to be guided by it was explained to the trainees, the rights and legal status of minor victim or witness were discussed.
The second day of the training covered the psychological aspects of the investigations of juvenile victims and witnesses. The importance of the study of psychological peculiarities of the minor by a psychologist involved in the investigative operation was stressed out by the experts. The mechanism and methods of preparation of a minor and provision of necessary consultation to the investigator by the psychologist was delivered to the training audience. Ethical peculiarities of participation of the psychologist involved in investigative operations were also discussed.
The trainees were given real examples of investigation cases with involvement of a juvenile victim or witness and were asked to discuss the cases in detail for understanding all aspects of the case, and then share their thoughts on the role of the psychologist, the ethical aspects of their work with a minor, with a law enforcement representative, with parents and others involved in this process. Some psychologists had already been involved in the investigation operations with minors, so they have shared their experience, concerns and used the chance to ask questions and get instructions from experts.
By the end of the training each participant has received a copy of the manual.
Following the training, on June 25, 2018, 17 psychologists took a final test allowing the organizers to assess the knowledge they had gained during the 2-day professional training. All participants successfully completed the test and were awarded with Certificates of Course Completion.
This was the first session of series of workshops on effective case management of delinquent juveniles for schools’ multidisciplinary teams.
Armenia | 
