Sofia Courts Open First Children’s Interview Room
One of the most difficult issues facing Bulgaria’s judiciary was addressed with the opening of a dedicated space for interviewing child participants in court proceedings on April 20 at the Ministry of the Interior in Sofia. Constructed with support from USAID Judicial Strengthening Initiative (JSI) grantee Childhood Without Tears, the new interview room will be managed by the Institute of Psychology. The space is an important part of court reform affecting many areas of the judiciary, particularly criminal cases involving children as victims or witnesses, and family law cases in which children must be made as comfortable as possible with emotionally difficult proceedings.
The new interview room was opened by JSI Director Ken Stuart, who has extensive experience in cases involving children, and Kalin Gaidarov, Director of the Institute of Psychology. The event received much attention from the Sofia press and generated an extensive feature by one of the two leading dailies, 24 Hours.
![The new children's interview room at the Institute of Psychology will be available to the Sofia courts](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081011063924im_/http://www.usaid.gov/locations/europe_eurasia/images/success/2007-06-12.jpg) |
The new children’s interview room at the Institute of Psychology will be available to the Sofia courts |
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