No arrest of juvenile offenders unless caught red-handed: Saudi official

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s higher authorities have approved the executive bylaw of the Juvenile Law, which will come into force 30 days after its publication, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learned.

The bylaw regulations, which include 13 legal articles, prevent the arrest of juvenile offenders unless they are caught red-handed and that there should be modern means to monitor their behavior.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman approved the Law on Juveniles in August 2018. The executive regulations emphasized that there should be separate areas within the juvenile homes to hear the testimony of a juvenile plaintiff and these areas shall be far from the location of their detention.

In the event of the arrest of a juvenile delinquent, after catching him red-handed, his guardian or his representative should be notified about it immediately by the available means. Then a crime report shall be prepared in which all the necessary data shall be recorded and the minor culprit shall be taken to the juvenile home immediately after his arrest.

The bylaw instructs not to arrest a juvenile who was not caught red-handed if he appears ill or faces similar situations. It also prohibits the use of chains and shackles while arresting a juvenile except in the cases of resistance.

In the event of arrest, the juvenile or his guardian or his representative must be informed about the reasons for the arrest and the charges against him and he has the right to seek the assistance of an agent or a lawyer in the phases of interrogation, investigation and trial. If the identity of the juvenile who is taken to the juvenile home is unknown, then the Ministry of Interior shall be notified about it.

Article six of the bylaw stipulates that the request to extend the detention for a period or successive periods, mentioned in article 9 of the law, must be submitted before the expiry of the detention.

If the period expires and no decision is made to extend it or the court rejects the request to extend the detention, then the juvenile shall be handed over to his guardian or his representative immediately after taking the necessary guarantees to ensure that the juvenile will be protected and not harmed.

The regulations demanded that the investigation with the juvenile shall be carried out inside the home or in a location where he feels reassured and psychologically comfortable and that the investigation with him should not have any effect on him from psychological, social, behavioral or educational aspects.

According to the regulations, the juvenile home shall prepare a report about his condition at the time of placing him inside the home and shall propose what the house deems appropriate for the juvenile in order to enable the evaluation of his behaviors in terms of family, social, psychological, material and educational aspects, as well as the factors that are likely to be the cause of his deviation.

In all such cases, the juvenile home shall submit a report about the case of the juvenile on a continuous basis to the court every 15 days during the first 90 days after placing him inside the home. After this period, the report shall be submitted every month or whenever the court demands the same.

The bylaw also stipulated that the court shall determine the periods during which the agency in charge of implementation must submit a report on the state of the juvenile, and that includes monitoring of his behavior in his natural environment using modern means of monitoring.

The executive regulations emphasized that the juvenile’s record shall include all data regarding the judgments issued against him. The court, upon conditional release of the convicted juvenile, can demand any guarantee it deems appropriate according to his condition and circumstances.