“The legislative policy of Bulgaria treats the family as a natural environment in which the child is raised. In this regard, the adoption of a new law on child justice remains a major challenge for a reform in the sector. This was stated by the Minister of Justice Danail Kirilov in front of the participants in the National Program “Governing Skills” of the Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza”. He discussed the topic of child justice together with the Judge Albena Boteva from the Association of Judges and Maria Brestnichka, Director of “Network Development” at the National Children’s Network.

One of the highlights of Minister Kirilov’s speech was that the topic of child justice is strategic for the Bulgarian government, because it places at the center the rights of the children and the responsibility of the state for their care. He explained that the work on the new law was continuing. In addition, the Ministry of Justice actively monitors the effective functioning of the so-called “blue rooms” – specialized rooms for sparing hearing of minors in civil and criminal proceedings.

Judge Albena Boteva explained to the participants in the program the basic principles of working in the “blue rooms” and the need for multidisciplinary knowledge and skills of judges and all professionals working with children. Maria Brestnichka, in turn, said that the non-governmental sector has long been waiting for the law on child justice to become factual and to partner with the state for its implementation.

The panel was followed by the participants with particular interest. A heated discussion followed.