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What do we mean by ‘juvenile justice’?
What is a ‘juvenile justice system’?
Fundamental principles of a juvenile justice system
Why is a ‘restorative justice’ approach more effective than ‘retributive justice’?

What do we mean by ‘juvenile justice’?

According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, “States Parties recognize the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child's sense of dignity and worth, which reinforces the child's respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child's age and the desirability of promoting the child's reintegration and the child's assuming a constructive role in society.” UNCRC, Article 40.1

The term “juvenile justice” refers to legislation, norms and standards, procedures, mechanisms and provision, institutions and bodies specifically applicable to juvenile offenders. For the purpose of this website, however, juvenile justice is understood to not just cover the treatment of children in conflict with the law. It also includes efforts to address the root causes of offending behaviour and implement measures to prevent such behaviour. There are three major strands of work under this broad definition, all of which are features of 'restorative justice':

• Prevention - in order to ensure that boys and girls do not come into conflict with the law in the first place and therefore do not come into contact with the formal criminal justice system,
• Diversion - to ensure that at all possible stages girls and boys are diverted away from the formal justice system and into community-based and restorative processes that address effectively the causes of their behaviours and identify strategies at the community level to effectively prevent re-offending; and
• Protection - of children who are already in conflict with the law from human rights violations, focusing on their development in order to deter them from re-offending and to promote their rehabilitation and smooth their reintegration back into society.

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What is a ‘juvenile justice system’?

Government responses to children in conflict with the law almost always involve dealing with the child through a formal justice system. Where this system contains a degree of specialisation for children it is frequently known as a juvenile justice system. This system may function within the context of the adult criminal justice system or may operate largely outside of the judicial system through committees, commissions or administrative panels.

In countries that do not have a specialised juvenile justice system, children in conflict with the law are dealt with in largely the same way as adults. Both adult criminal justice systems and juvenile justice systems frequently use deprivation of liberty as the primary sentencing option. Both may also fail to consider the needs and best interests of the child and to address the root causes of conflict with the law.

Due to their specific needs and circumstances, children and adolescents should always be treated outside the regular adult criminal system.

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Fundamental principles of a juvenile justice system

• Children need to be treated with humanity: The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) clearly forbids torture, capital punishment and life imprisonment without the possibility of release for all persons below 18 years, while limiting the use of deprivation of liberty as a measure of last resort – when all other alternative solutions do not seem possible or adequate. In those cases when it is required, it should only be administered for the shortest period possible.
• The system shall be child-centred: A child-centred system recognizes the child as subject to fundamental rights and freedoms and ensures that all actions concerning the child are to be guided by his/her best interests.
• Specialization and multidisciplinary approach: A juvenile justice system shall aim to encourage specialization in child justice practice and the development of a distinct and unique system of criminal justice that treats children in a manner appropriate to their age and level of maturity and which develops institutions and systems designed to achieve that goal. What this refers to is not a single juvenile justice system, but multiple, inter-connected systems. The police, the prosecutors, the courts, the lawyers, the social workers and probation officers, the jails and prisons, the juvenile officers, and the rehabilitation, prevention, and diversion programmes are each systems in their own right. Each one is a relatively autonomous bureaucratic unit within the government, with its own objectives, performance standards and command structure, and each system is in competition with all the others for its share of the national budget. Thus, the approach has to involve all the actors from the outset and lay special emphasis on cooperation and coordination between the relevant agencies.

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Why is a ‘restorative justice’ approach to juvenile justice more effective than ‘retributive justice’ ?

• Criminal justice systems in many countries are ‘retributive’ – i.e. they are concerned with ‘retribution’ and punishing the offender, concentrating more on the crime itself than on the people involved. However, this is often not in the best interests of the victim, the offender, or society in general.
• A much better system is that of ‘restorative justice’. This approach focuses on ‘restoring’ damaged relationships (between victim, offender and community) to the way they were before a crime was committed – to ‘make things right as much as possible.’ It promotes solutions to repair damage, reconcile parties involved, restore community harmony and reassure those involved.
• Restorative justice applies to people of all ages but it is especially important in relation to young offenders as it provides the option of having a lasting impact on their emotional and moral development which is positive, rather than negative: it can stop the process of a young offender turning into an adult offender.
• In practice, restorative justice involves:
  -    Prevention of children coming into conflict with the law;
  -    Diversion of offenders away from the formal criminal justice system: e.g. victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, referral to an NGO or other community or social programme, including substance abuse programmes, family reunification, community service, police warnings, behaviour contracts, conditional or unconditional release;
  -    Alternatives to detention: e.g. care, guidance and supervision orders; probation; community service orders; financial penalties, compensations and restitution; intermediate treatment and other treatment orders; orders to participate in group counselling and other similar activities; orders concerning foster care, living communities or other educational settings;
  -    Detention only as a last resort, for the shortest time possible;
  -    Access to legal assistance
  -    No capital or corporal punishment
  -    Public awareness
  -    Rehabilitation

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More about restorative justice

Information on transitional justice