A detention centre for juvenile offenders is to be up and running by January 1, 2026 at the latest, Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis said on Tuesday.

The minister joined a round-table discussion organised by the Cyprus Bar Association to mark International Human Rights Day with a focus on the rights of the child.

Hartsiotis said the protection of children’s rights was a priority and that a law passed in 2021 constituted the cornerstone for the establishment of a child-friendly justice system.

“It is a pioneering law for Cyprus and provides for child-centered methods, mainly extrajudicial procedures and alternative ways of treating children with delinquent behaviour,” the minister said.

It establishes new institutions such as probation officers, children’s courts, day centres and a residential juvenile detention centre away from the Nicosia central prisons.

“Detention will be the last option,” the minister said.

“However, even if a child is sentenced to detention, this child will be held in a special facility, which will be reformative, educational, therapeutic and welfare in nature.”

Hartsiotis said in all juvenile procedures, the best interests of the child will be the primary concern.

“A basic principle of the law is that criminal prosecution and detention of a child is a measure of last resort and is only applied in very serious cases and if all other alternative measures have been tried and failed,” he said.

In the exceptional cases where criminal prosecution of a child is pursued, the cases are now heard by special children’s courts, which were created in May 2021.

These courts can impose alternative penalties to detention, such as reprimand, fines on the child or parents, supervision, community work for children over 16 years, or referral to a day centre, and if drugs are involved, a treatment centre.

“The goal is not to punish children who exhibit delinquent behaviour, but to provide them with assistance and support from specialists, so that they can understand the reasons that led them to this behaviour and to see the consequences of their actions,” the minister said.

As for the detention centre, he said all the stops were being pulled out to have it operational by January 2026, as provided for by the law.

Draft regulations for its operation are underway and were approved by the cabinet in July this year. Discussion at the House began in October and is ongoing.

Once it goes through parliament there will be a public tender to assign the operation of the facility to the private sector but not the care of the children whose welfare will remain with the state.

The cabinet has already given the green light for the use of the migrant detention centre at Menoyia following the completion of the new migration centre at Limnes, provided all of the remodelling is satisfactorily carried out, the minister said.