Juvenile Justice: Modern Concepts of Working with Children in Conflict with the Law

This publication is intended primarily for a field-based practitioner working to improve the system for the administration of juvenile justice in any country. The purpose of the
publication is to provide practitioners with concrete guidance on developing effective
programmes in the field of juvenile justice.

This publication examines and documents models of good practice from Save the Children's expertise in juvenile justice work and includes examples of good practice in juvenile justice work by other agencies. The publication has been developed field staff and others (both inside and outside of Save the Children UK) who are interested and involved in juvenile justice work.

In order to bring about change to juvenile justice systems, practitioners must first have an understanding of the overall aims and objectives of the juvenile justice system in their country, as well as of the international framework for the administration of juvenile justice.

You can then begin to address the issues and areas for intervention. This publication outlines the key areas for intervention.

Practitioners need to focus on five key issues:

• Offending behaviour, its causes and how it can be prevented
• The legal changes needed to ensure that anti-social behaviour is dealt with by social
  agencies rather than the criminal justice system in order to limit the process of
  criminalisation
• The protection of children who do come into conflict with the law and measures to
  reduce re-offending
• Child participation and gender awareness in programmes to reform the juvenile justice system
• Improving the understanding of the general public regarding young offenders and
  increasing commitment towards finding longer term solutions.

Structure of the publication

Part 1 asks 'What is children's justice?'. Chapter 1 looks at definitions and problems, as well as links between children's justice and wider development issues. Chapter 2 looks at the international rules and guidelines that form the framework for children's justice.

Part 2 is about setting up and running a children's justice project. It begins by looking at how to stop abuses and violations of children's rights. Of particular concern is the abuse of children and violations of rights that occur when children first come into contact with the criminal justice system.

Chapters 3, 4 and 5 look at three key interventions are discussed, with specific focus on the role of NGOs:

• Research and data collection. Up-to-date information enables NGOs to:
• identify key areas for intervention
• influence public opinion and media with evidenced-based information
• ensure gender-issues are properly addressed
• ensure that children's views are taken into consideration in programme development and encourage the participation of children in discussions relating to reform of juvenile justice systems.
• Eliminating status offences and increasing the age of criminal responsibility. This can significantly reduce the number of children deemed to be criminally liable. A programme of research, advocacy and training and some limited legal reform are all means by which effective intervention can be carried out with regards to this issue.
• Promoting the use of alternatives to custody, including the use of bail (pre-trial); refraining from police custody as a pre-sentence measure; foster care; close supervision and diversion programmes.

Chapters 6, 7 and 8 look at what action NGOs need to undertake to bring about systems change:

• Training programmes for all personnel working directly with children in conflict with the law such as police, lawyers, judges and prison personnel
• Working to bring about the introduction of structures that will promote children's rights - children's units within police forces, juvenile courts, legal aid, and the separation of children from adults in custody
• Promoting the role of social welfare agencies in dealing with children who come into conflict with the law
• Law reform: this is a longer-term intervention and not one that NGOs should necessarily take up themselves until they are well established and recognised in the field.
• Children's justice practitioners should not limit their work to children already in conflict with the law. Prevention work is a vital component of children's justice work.

Chapters 9 and 10 look at the role of NGOs in building constituencies, and how they should approach this work:

• Working with communities, schools, parents, etc, with a view to building long-term
  prevention programmes
• Bringing the key-players together through inter-agency coordination and training
  programmes
• Creating networks and alliances with key relevant international, regional and national
  stakeholders.