Human rights in the administration of justice A/RES/79/172 29. Encourages States that have not yet integrated children’s issues into their overall rule of law efforts to do so and to develop and implement a comprehensive and coordinated justice policy for children that prioritizes prevention and early intervention to prevent and address juvenile delinquency and to address risks and causes for children’s contact with the juvenile and/or criminal justice system by providing necessary support through child protection systems that encompass social protection, education and physical and mental health, as well as with a view to promoting, inter alia, the use of alternative measures, such as diversion and restorative justice, in cases where a child commits a crime, and complying with the principle that deprivation of liberty of children should be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, as well as to avoid, wherever possible, the use of pretrial detention for children; 30. Stresses the importance of including reintegration strategies for former child offenders in justice policies, in particular through the provision of gender sensitive education and life skills programmes, as well as treatment and services for substance abuse and mental health needs, in line with relevant commitments and obligations under international human rights law, with a view to their assuming a constructive role in society; 31. Urges States to take all necessary and effective measures, including legal reform where appropriate, to prevent and respond to all forms of abuse, exploitation and violence against children, including sexual and gender-based violence, within the justice system, including within the informal justice system, where it exists, and to consider applying the United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,33 as appropriate, in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of laws, policies, programmes, budgets and mechanisms aimed at eliminating violence against children in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, and encourages States to support and to benefit, as appropriate, from the programme proposed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations Children’s Fund in this regard; 32. Also urges States to ensure that, under their legislation and practice, neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without the possibility of release nor corporal punishment is imposed for offences committed by persons under 18 years of age, and encourages States to consider repealing all other forms of life imprisonment for offences committed by persons under 18 years of age; 33. Encourages States not to set the minimum age of criminal responsibility at too low an age level, bearing in mind the emotional, mental and intellectual maturity of the child, and in this respect notes the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years as the absolute minimum age, and to continue to increase it to a higher age level; 34 34. Also encourages States to gather relevant information, including through data collection and research, concerning children within their criminal justice systems so as to improve their administration of justice, while being mindful of the children’s right to privacy, with full respect for relevant international human rights instruments, and bearing in mind applicable international standards on human rights in the administration of justice; 35. Stresses the importance of paying greater attention to the impact on children of imprisonment or other sentences imposed upon their parents, while noting __________________ 33 34 24-24212 Resolution 69/194, annex. See CRC/C/GC/24. 9/11