PESHAWAR: Besides effective enforcement of the law, coordination among the relevant departments, including prosecution, probation, prison, police and social welf are, should also be increased for improving the juvenile justice system in the province, said speakers during a workshop here.

Addressing the `capacitybuilding workshop of juvenile justice stakeholders`, the speakers also said there was a need for prioritising juvenile justice and allocating budget for the establishment of exclusive juvenile courts, provision of free legal aid to children in conflict with law, facilitation of probation officers, and establishment of borstal institutions.The event was organised by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc)in collaboration with the Sociology Department of the University of Peshawar here.

It was attended mostly by academicians, probation officers, prosecutors, ofhcials of prison department, members of child protection units, and lawyers.

Sparc regional manager Jahanzeb Khan said the Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018, was enacted in May this year replacing the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000.

He said under the law, every person below the age of 18 was a juvenile, while there were special provisions for dealing with them when they came in conflict with law.

Noted child rights activist and Supreme Court lawyer Anees Jillani said ideally, the main purpose of a prison, detention facility or a rehabilitation centre was to put the young offenders through a process which made them realise their mistake and equip them with education, posi-tive energy, selfesteem, and awareness so that they could cope up with the challenges in the outside world, use their abilities to make a place for themselves and stay away from criminal activities.

Director (reclamation and probation) Mualim Jan said despite several challenges and constraints, the directorate had been working with 36 male probation officers in addition to seven female of ficers.

He said under the Juvenile Justice System Act, the probation officers had a major responsibility in assisting and preparing a report on direction of the juvenile court regarding juvenile`s character, educational, social and moral background.

He said currently, around 3,000 released prisoners were supervised by probadon ofhcers, which had reduced burden on prisons.

He called for allocation of more funds for the department, which currently has Rs80 million budget, which is also meant to pay salary.

Officials of child protectionunits Mohammad Bilal and Waqas Khan said the units faced challenges after funding was discontinued by donors.

They said child victims were represented by CPU in cases where parents refused to be a party.

Sharing the findings of a PhD dissertation on juvenile justice system, chairman of the Sociology Department Prof Niaz Mohammad and Dr Ihsanullah Khan recommended ways to improve nutrition.

Deputy director of the prisons department Umair Khan said around 10,500 people were kept in prisons across the province against the capacity of around 8,500 prisoners.

He said the issue of prison overcrowding would be addressed af ter the completion of construction of a new section in Peshawar Central prison as well as some district prisons.

Public prosecutor Naveeda Naz said measures were needed to protect children from delinquency, while stakeholders shouldbe on boardin restoradve justice system.