E/CN.4/2002/77/Add.2 page 31 Recommendation 4 116. Protection of minors aged 15 and over: the legal rules applying to minors aged between 15 and 18 should be brought into line with international standards. The Working Group recommends the Government to extend the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court to cover minors aged between 15 and 18 and allow the Court to apply the criminal penalties laid down for offenders in that age category where appropriate. Current law should also be amended to require that minors in this category are assisted by counsel at all stages of the proceedings, to allow for rehabilitative measures appropriate to their age and needs, and to have them held separately from adults in prisons. Recommendation 5 117. Appointment of women to positions of responsibility and admission of women to the ranks of judicial officers: the law has never banned women from public office, but as in most countries they are under-represented or not represented at managerial level. By appointing women to managerial posts they have never held in the past, H.H. the Amir has ushered in a new era for the women of his country. The Working Group is delighted, and in the spirit of article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights invites the Government to take another bold step - which will, incidentally, facilitate the forthcoming ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women – by allowing women to become judicial officers. Bahrain has highly qualified female legal scholars: the Working Group’s delegation was privileged to interview some of them. Allowing women into the ranks of their judicial officers has helped many countries to make their justice systems more human and bring them closer to the people they have dealings with; in Bahrain, it could make for better understanding of the problems that women face, and make it easier to deal with them. Recommendation 6 118. Violence against women: the Working Group also recommends, as part of the reforms now in progress, effective legal provision to prevent and punish violence against women, especially domestic violence, which often goes unpunished because the way it is required to be proved takes no account of women’s insecure social status. Recommendation 7 119. Civil society: to bolster the encouraging cooperation that has begun between the Government and civil society, the Working Group recommends assigning high priority to the passage of the bill now in preparation to replace the particularly restrictive Societies and Clubs Act of 1987, thereby providing legal underpinnings for the permits – in fact, no more than agreements to tolerate – recently issued to a number of societies and clubs. Similarly, priority should be given to the passage of the bill on journalism and publication, replacing the current, highly restrictive Press and Publication Act of 1978.