CFJ-EN Annual Seminar 2025 "Bridging Child Protection and Child Justice"

CFJ-EN Annual Seminar 2024

Bridging Child Protection and Child Justice – Enhancing collaborations for child-centred justice systems.

Location: Athens, Greece

In-person event only

This year’s CFJ-EN Annual Seminar, developed in collaboration with Defence for Children International – Greece, will explore the urgent need to build stronger bridges between child protection and child justice systems.

The General Objective of the Annual Seminar is to promote a shared understanding of the critical links between child protection and child justice systems. By fostering dialogue and sharing promising practices, the seminar can support the development of coordinated strategies that ensure that children receive the care and protection they need and are entitled to when they enter in contact with the justice system — whether as victims, suspects and/or accused, witnesses in criminal proceedings, as well as in the context of civil and administrative proceedings.

Over two days, the seminar will bring together over 100 participants from across Europe—including legal experts, child rights advocates, practitioners, academics, policymakers, and young people with lived experience. Through live podcasts, storytelling, interactive spaces, and thematic workshops, participants will examine how to foster collaboration and develop integrated, child-centred responses.

Discussions will focus on how to reinforce child protection systems to minimise punitive responses by promoting early intervention, restorative justice, and tailored support. The seminar will explore the failures that lead children into the justice system, the impact of punitive measures on their development, and the potential of integrated, multiagency approaches to deliver protective, rehabilitative alternatives. Key themes will include transitions to adulthood, the criminalisation of migrant and marginalised children, and the need for inclusive, non-discriminatory systems that uphold every child’s right to protection and justice.

Download the concept note here.

Visit our website or contact us for more information at info@cfjnetwork.eu

Please note that we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for participants travelling from outside the EU.