DCI supports children through the difficult process of navigating the justice system.
DCI’s Socio-Legal Defence Centres (SLDCs) provide direct legal representation, psychosocial support, and protection services to children in conflict with the law, child victims and witnesses, as well as adults confronted with child rights violations. The Socio-Legal Defence Centres operate in 15 countries, including Argentina, Belgium, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ghana, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, the Netherlands, Palestine, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, and Yemen.
The Socio-Legal Defence Centres provide direct legal and psychosocial support services to children and strengthen the capacity of community child protection referral mechanisms. These centres constitute both a substantive programme as well as a means of action adaptable to each national context. They facilitate access to justice and corresponding quality socio-legal support, including information sharing. SLDCs often reach remote groups and areas and provide first legal advice to children. Their grassroots nature also allows them to identify and react to widespread abuses, such as child labour, children deprived of liberty, children suspected or accused of a crime, exploitation, trafficking and gender based violence.
DCI’s long-term objectives are to ensure that children’s rights are acknowledged internationally and nationally and that child-friendly justice systems are established nationally, based on the principles enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and all other relevant norms and standards.
Principles of the Socio-Legal Defence Centres
DCI’s Socio-Legal Defence Centres operate under the principles of best-interest of the child, inclusionary principle of considering the child as an active subject and rights-holder, case-advocacy through a multidisciplinary approach, and social advocacy to improve systems at the national and international levels.
Take a closer look
DCI’s Socio-Legal Defence Centres reach thousands of children each year, supporting them through legal services and psychosocial needs. The SLDCs also engage in post-detention reintegration support, programming for children in conflict with the law to guide their emotional development, and advocacy at the national and international levels, coordinating with DCI National Sections across the globe and the International Secretariat in Geneva.
Annually, DCI-Sierra Leone’s SLDC provides legal services to about 200 children in conflict with the law and about 2,000 survivors of abuse and exploitation. The team also monitors detention facilities to identify children sentenced as adults and successfully advocates for the release of over 300 children annually.
DCI-Yemen’s SLDC assists about 200 children annually through legal, psychosocial, and educational support. DCI-Yemen works with an expanded team of legal experts, psychologists, social workers, and support staff. Complementing these services, the Building My Positive Personality programme offers educational, psychosocial, and sports interventions across several governorates.
Each year, DCI-Mauritania’s SLDCs in Nouadhibou and Mbout supports supports about 300 children who are in conflict with the law or survivors of sexual violence. The SLDCs work with a team of social workers, lawyers, and psychologists to best support the children in their community.