On 29-30 January 2020 a study visit of eight Moldovan judges in Lisbon, Portugal was organised within the Council of Europe project “Protecting children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
The aim of the study visit was to share and document best practices of Portuguese judicial system to examine child sexual exploitation or abuse cases; to understand the judgment procedures applied in child sexual exploitation or abuse cases and to discuss the specificities of child friendly justice procedures of the country.
The visit was organised in close cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Portugal. The programme of the visit provided for the meetings held with several Portuguese authorities, namely Directorate General of Justice Policy of the Ministry of Justice, Family and Juvenile Court, Supreme Court of Justice, Local Criminal Court, Central Criminal Court, Criminal pre-trial inquiry Court and Centre for Judicial Studies.
As a result, several aspects of the Portuguese judicial procedures involving children were discussed and experience shared, particularly on interviewing of children victims of child sexual exploitation or abuse; methods to effectively analyze specific evidences in such cases; categories of assistance provided to the child victim/witness of such crimes and the ways of interaction of judges with the competent authorities to provide such assistance etc.
The study visit was organized under the 2nd intermediate outcome of the project ”Strengthened capacities and skills of authorities, professionals and civil society organisations to design and implement effective responses to child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse measures”.