Children, Rights and Criminal Justice

The importance of protecting the rights of children who breach the criminal law is well recognised in international law, domestic policy and the jurisprudence of the English and European courts. But although children's rights in the youth crime sphere may be well recognised, they are not always well protected. The failure (or perceived failure) to protect children's rights stems in part from a lack of clarity as to what is meant by children's rights in the youth justice system, and in particular the difficulty of balancing the status and rights of the child qua offender with the status and rights of the child qua child.

This book provides an in-depth examination of children's rights in the youth crime context in England and Wales. Drawing on theories of responsibility, a conceptual framework is developed which aims to provide clarity as to how children's rights should be protected, and in particular how to accommodate the child's dual status as offender and as child in the protection of his or her rights. The book also provides a detailed analysis of the law, policy and jurisprudence relating to children's rights across the youth justice system. It includes chapters on the child's rights in the pre-crime/preventative context; pre-trial rights; the right to effective participation; privacy rights; the child's right to liberty and family life; the rights of the child as prisoner; and the relationship between the child's rights and parental responsibility.