E/CN.4/2002/77/Add.2 page 20 principles, guaranteeing the right of all accused persons to avail themselves of a proper defence. It is equally important not to underestimate the financial implications for the remuneration of officially assigned lawyers implicit in this reform. 6. Juvenile justice 68. The administration of juvenile justice is currently regulated by Legislative Decree No. 17 of 1976, which establishes a Juvenile Court competent to hear cases involving minors up to the age of 15 who have committed an offence or are somehow at risk. These minors are not criminally responsible in the eyes of the law: “A person who is not more than 15 years of age at the time of committing an act constituting a crime shall not be held liable. In this case, he shall be subjected to the provisions of the juveniles’ law” (Criminal Code, art. 32). 69. This is consistent with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the “Beijing Rules”). The rules really are applied in practice, as the Working Group’s delegation was able to ascertain when it visited the juvenile rehabilitation centre run by the Ministry of the Interior in Isa Town. The Centre has the necessary personnel and facilities to provide appropriate care for girls and boys who are placed there by order of the Juvenile Court. Current procedure stipulates that a minor charged with an offence must be represented by a lawyer and that the only measures the court may apply are those intended to bring about his re-education or reabsorption into society. The Centre is run by women police officers assisted by women teachers, sociologists, psychologists and other specialized staff. The children attend school and then undergo vocational training. They play sports, participate in outside activities, receive visits and may be allowed to spend weekends with their families. 70. Juveniles between 15 and 18 years of age are criminally responsible and may be tried in the ordinary courts in the same way as adults. Article 70 of the Criminal Code stipulates that minority is a defence and an extenuating circumstance for juveniles aged between 15 and 18, and article 71 provides for reduced penalties: “If there is an extenuating justification for an offence punishable by a death sentence, the penalty shall be reduced to jail or imprisonment for one year. If the penalty for such offence is life or term imprisonment it shall be reduced to the punishment for a misdemeanour unless the law otherwise provides.” 71. From this general formula, which is not specifically aimed at juveniles, it follows that whereas minors may not be sentenced to death, they can be sentenced to harsh penalties, especially for criminal offences. The courts have considerable latitude in the matter and nothing prevents them from imposing the same penalty on a minor as on his adult co-principals. For example, the delegation spoke to individuals serving heavy sentences for offences committed when they were only 16, and in some cases the court passed the same sentence on them as on their co-principals or accomplices. 72. The 1964 Penitentiary Code currently in force makes no specific provision for prisoners under the age of 18, except to say that persons under 16 years of age may not be chained up (art. 9). The prison authorities explained to the delegation that prisoners over the age of 16 were housed with adults; segregation of adults and juveniles was only applied in the case of under-16s, who are categorized as remand prisoners and treated as such. In this connection, the