CHILD Protection & Rights > Child Protection Issues.

Individuals who start a criminal career early are usually not easy to reintegrate into normal life. Though the message of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is that criminalization of children should be avoided, this doesn’t mean that they should be treated as if they have no responsibility when they offend law. It is even important that young offenders are held responsible for their actions and for instance take part in repairing the damage that they have caused. The question is what kind of mechanism should replace the ordinary criminal justice system for children.

It is in the sanction process that we find the difference to an ordinary system of justice. The goal of Juvenile Justice should be to establish responsibility and at the same time to promote re-integration to avoid the child to offend again.

But this requires innovative and effective initiatives.
- The UN Convention asks for separate procedures for juveniles brought to court. These should be child-friendly and promote rehabilitation and re-integration rather than punishment.
- The offender’s parents or other legal guardian should be involved, unless this is deemed counter productive for the rehabilitation of the child.
- There is a need for everyone involved, including judges and prosecutors, to be educated not only about the law but also about the special needs of children.
- Arrest, detention and imprisonment of children should be used “only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time”, as the UN Convention says. The only reason for locking up children is that there is no other alternative to handle a serious and immediate risk to others.
- There should be a possibility for the child to challenge the accusations and even appeal.
- Such detentions should take place in specific and “children-friendly” establishments and be separated from adult prisoners and, in particular, from hard-core criminals.
- Conditions of detention should be humane and take into account the special needs of children.
- Contact with the family should be encouraged and facilitated, if that is in the best interests of the child.
- Full-time education is particularly essential. For each young offender there should be an individual programme of rehabilitation, a plan that should continue after the detention period with the support of guardians, teachers and social workers.
In all this, the child should have a say.

However, the judicial body is the last link of the chain, in consequence it is important to try to do everything possible to prevent such cases from happening.

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