In civil law, when there is refusal of solvent parents to pay child support and when they are state or private
employees, the judge may order a wage garnishment, which must however be a new procedure. In this
case, a direct payment is made to beneficiary by the employer of the owing parent.
However, it is clear that ignorance of legal provisions continues to hinder the implementation of provisions
protecting children. In this regard, awareness-raising and legal assistance are carried out by NGOs such
as the National Organisation for Children, Women and Family (ONEF), which has developed in
collaboration with the Ministry of justice a brochure on how to obtain and claim alimony as well as the
Association of Women Lawyers of Côte d'Ivoire (AFJCI), through its legal clinic.
The legal Clinic is an permanent centre for counseling and guidance which was initially set up in 2000 in
Abidjan in partnership with the Embassy of the United States and the Global Fund for Women. Its mission
is to improve access of the Ivorian people, particularly those in vulnerable situations, to rights and justice
by providing free legal and judicial assistance. Since its establishment until today, the clinic has been
approached by 5238 people. Since 2003, a so-called "mobile" legal clinic also provides legal assistance to
people or groups who request support from the association.
In 2013, as part of a joint UNDP / UNOCI / UNICEF / EU / AFJCI project called " Improvement of Access
to Rights and Justice in Côte d'Ivoire Project ", the Women Lawyers Association of Ivory Coast (AFJCI)
created and provides for the management of six (06) legal clinics in San Pedro, Guiglo, Man, Bouaké,
Korhogo and Bondoukou.
Within the Ministry of Justice, there is a Sub-Directorate of Civil Affairs, which is attached to the
Department of Civil and Criminal Affairs, whose mission is to provide legal and judicial assistance to
persons who do not have sufficient resources to initiate proceedings before the courts, including claims
for alimony.
Legal aid covers all the costs relating to the proceedings for which it was granted. The expenses incurred
are covered by the Public Treasury.
In terms of legal aid, according to the statistics of the DACP National Bureau of Legal Aid, during the
period from 2008 to 2013, 660 applications for Legal Aid were recorded including 570 granted and 90
rejected.
These requests come from throughout the national territory with a predominance of the District of Abidjan.
It should be noted that the majority of applicants are poor and vulnerable without resources.
In order to make such assistance more accessible to litigants, the Ministry of Justice undertook a reform
of the legal aid. A draft law is being prepared in order to organise the functioning of the legal and judicial
assistance in Ivory Coast. this reform will eventually create local offices of legal and judicial assistance in
each jurisdiction so that the central office located at the Ministry of Justice in Abidjan becomes an appeal
body.
The agreement signed on December 11, 2012 with the Ivorian Bar will infuse new life into the legal and
judicial assistance to persons seeking assistance in judicial matters.
As part of its programme to support human rights of children in conflict with the law and / or deprived of
liberty (2005-2010), BICE commissioned a lawyer to assist young offenders subject to an Order of
Provisional detention or custody. More than 350 minors were provided with this legal and judicial
assistance.
A plea was made to the Dean of the Bar Association to monitor sensitive files.
The Association of Magistrates for Youth and Family whose creation aims at the protection of children in
the judicial system and especially the capacity of its members and the popularisation of alternatives to
imprisonment.
5.4 Children deprived of their family environment (art. 20)
R 35. The Committee recommends that the State party urgently adopt a programme to strengthen
and increase the means implemented to ensure the protection of children in alternative care,
RAPPORT INITIAL SUR LA MISE EN OEUVRE DE LA CHARTE AFRICAINE DES DROITS ET DU BIEN ÊTRE DE L'ENFANT
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