This makes Salzgitter the second location in Lower Saxony, after Osnabrück, where such an agreement has been reached, which is intended in particular to speed up juvenile criminal proceedings.

The agreement was signed by Katrin Ballnus, Senior Public Prosecutor from Braunschweig, Frank Klingebiel, Mayor of the City of Salzgitter, Eckart Müller-Zitzke, Director of Salzgitter Local Court, and Volker Warnecke, Director of Police. Also present were the State Secretary from the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior and Sport, Stephan Manke, and the Attorney General of Braunschweig, Detlev Rust.

The establishment of "Houses of Juvenile Justice" is an important judicial project of the coalition agreement of the Lower Saxony state government. At the Göttingen, Lüneburg, Hanover, Osnabrück and Salzgitter locations, the police, public prosecutor's office, court, juvenile court assistance and independent agencies will work even more closely together in future to prevent and combat juvenile crime. The public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig and the district court in Salzgitter have each been given an additional post to implement the "House of Juvenile Justice".

Justice Minister Havliza: "In the case of juveniles, it is particularly important that punishment follows on the heels of punishment. In Salzgitter, we want to break new ground with the "House of Juvenile Justice" in order to facilitate and improve the procedures in juvenile criminal proceedings. Salzgitter is the only one of the five selected locations of the "Houses of Juvenile Justice" that does not have a public prosecutor's office on site. The public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig is responsible for Salzgitter. This could provide valuable insights for other possible locations in Lower Saxony."

State Secretary of the Interior Manke: "Experience shows that, particularly in the case of young people, state sanctions for a criminal offense should be imposed as quickly as possible. The close cooperation between the police, public prosecutor's office and juvenile court assistance here at the House of Juvenile Criminal Law in Salzgitter will enable us to react earlier, more effectively and in a more targeted manner in future in order to stop young people's criminal careers at the very beginning through coordinated and consistent intervention."

Mayor Klingebiel: "Networked work such as in the House of Juvenile Justice is effective in many areas! I am delighted that the city administration, police, public prosecutor's office, court, juvenile court assistance and independent organizations will be able to work together even more closely in Salzgitter in future. Effective and rapid prosecution of juvenile offenses makes perfect sense. But the speed of proceedings is only one aspect. It is both an opportunity and a challenge to make it clear that, despite the close cooperation, all the players involved have their own role to play. The task of youth court assistance is different from that of the criminal prosecution authorities such as the police and the public prosecutor's office. They are not in competition, but work in coordination with each other and with the young person. And if this cooperation also has a preventative effect, we have achieved a lot!"

In addition to swift prosecution, close cooperation between the institutions involved is also highly relevant this year for another reason. The implementation of the EU Directive on procedural safeguards for children in criminal proceedings has resulted in significant changes to the Juvenile Courts Act. For example, in many cases the report of the juvenile court assistance will have to be available earlier than before. The scope of application of the public defender's office will be extended, as will the video recording of hearings of accused persons in juvenile criminal proceedings. The locations of the "Houses of Juvenile Justice" therefore have an enormous advantage in adapting their procedural processes to the expected legislation. At the same time, they can also serve as a source of inspiration for all other local court districts.