Building child-friendly justice: Supreme Court judge joined regional meetings on introducing judicial specialization in family and child cases

Recently, Pavlo Parkhomenko, Judge of the Supreme Court in the Civil Cassation Court, took part in working meetings discussing the implementation of a pilot project on introducing judicial specialization in family and child-related cases at the Iziaslav District Court of Khmelnytskyi Region, the Lutsk City District Court of Volyn Region, and the Mukachevo City District Court of Zakarpattia Region.

Representatives of the pilot courts, the NGO “Volunteer - All-Ukrainian Public Centre”, and regional offices of the UNICEF Representation in Ukraine coordinated efforts on establishing child-friendly courtrooms in the pilot courts. Such rooms are designed for hearings involving children, serving as a tool to uphold the principle of the best interests of the child in the administration of justice. The creation of such courtrooms is one of the key steps toward establishing a child-friendly judicial environment, adapted to children’s needs, age, and psychological characteristics — and an important step toward the implementation of international standards.

During the meetings, participants also discussed ways to strengthen interagency cooperation, while Judge Pavlo Parkhomenko shared current judicial practice concerning the consideration of civil cases related to children’s rights and interests.

In addition, as part of the visit, the Sykhiv District Court of Lviv, which is included among the model courts of the pilot project on judicial specialization in family and child-related cases, held the opening of a child-friendly courtroom. The courtroom was established under the pilot project to reduce psychological stress on children and to create the most comfortable conditions possible for their participation in court proceedings.

It should be recalled that earlier meetings were also held at the Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv (https://supreme.court.gov.ua/supreme/pres-centr/news/1750579/), the Sykhiv District Court of Lviv (https://supreme.court.gov.ua/supreme/pres-centr/news/1784944/), the Khadzhibey District Court of Odesa, and the Izmail City District Court of Odesa Region (https://supreme.court.gov.ua/supreme/pres-centr/news/1820895/), which are also participants in the project.

The pilot project (https://supreme.court.gov.ua/supreme/pres-centr/news/1710562/) is being implemented at the initiative of the Interagency Coordination Council on Juvenile Justice in cooperation with the Civil Cassation Court within the Supreme Court, the State Service of Ukraine for Children’s Affairs, the NGO “Volunteer - All-Ukrainian Public Centre”, and with the support of the UNICEF Representation in Ukraine.