–4–
b.
material conditions
104. A well-designed juvenile detention centre should provide positive and personalised
conditions of detention for young persons, respecting their dignity and privacy. All rooms should be
appropriately furnished and provide good access to natural light and adequate ventilation.
Juveniles should normally be accommodated in individual bedrooms; reasons should be
provided explaining why it is in the best interests of the juvenile to share sleeping accommodation
with another inmate. Juveniles should be consulted before being required to share sleeping
accommodation and should be able to state with whom they would wish to be accommodated.
Every effort should be made to avoid placing juveniles in large dormitories as the CPT’s
experience is that this puts juveniles at a significantly higher risk of violence and exploitation.
Indeed, establishments with large dormitories should be phased out.
105. Further, juveniles should have ready access to sanitary facilities that are hygienic and
respect privacy. In particular, attention should be paid to ensuring that female juveniles are provided
with ready access to sanitary and washing facilities as well as to hygiene items, such as sanitary
towels.
106. Juvenile offenders should also be allowed to wear their own clothing if it is suitable. Those
who do not have suitable clothing of their own should be provided with non-uniform clothing by the
establishment.
c.
regime
107. Although a lack of purposeful activities is detrimental for any prisoner, it is especially
harmful for juveniles, who have a particular need for physical activity and intellectual stimulation.
Juvenile inmates should be provided throughout the day with a full programme of education, sport,
vocational training, recreation and other purposeful out-of-cell activities.
108. Physical exercise should constitute an important part of the juveniles’ daily programme. All
juveniles should be allowed to exercise regularly, for at least two hours every day, of which at least
one hour should be in the open air and, preferably, considerably more. Outdoor exercise yards
should be spacious and suitably equipped to give juveniles a real opportunity to exert themselves
physically (e.g. to practise sports); they should also be equipped with shelter against inclement
weather.
109. Upon admission, an individualised plan should be drawn up for every juvenile, specifying
the objectives, the time-frame and the means through which the objectives should be attained, in
order to best utilise the time that the juvenile concerned spends in the detention centre, to develop
skills and competences that assist him/her to reintegrate into society.
110. Education and vocational training offered to juveniles in detention should be similar to that
in the community, provided by professional teachers/trainers, and juveniles in detention should
obtain the same types of diploma or certificate (after successfully completing their education) as
juveniles who attend educational establishments in the community. Measures should be taken to
avoid that school-leaving certificates bear any indication of the juvenile’s institutional affiliation.
Given the particularly difficult backgrounds of many juveniles, efforts need to be made to
encourage and motivate them to attend educational classes/vocational training and to participate in
workshops where they can learn skills to assist them upon their release. In a number of countries,
the CPT has observed the practice of training juveniles in using computers (including the Internet)
and/or of allowing selected detained juveniles to attend schools in the outside community. Such
practices should be encouraged.