Rights of the Child in the Child Justice System
| Published date | 01 August 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14732254231185820 |
| Author | Ursula Kilkelly,Stefaan Pleysier |
| Date | 01 August 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14732254231185820
Youth Justice
2023, Vol. 23(2) 135 –139
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/14732254231185820
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Rights of the Child in the Child
Justice System
Ursula Kilkelly and Stefaan Pleysier
It is now several decades since the United Nations and other international bodies began to
develop standards in relation to the protection of children’s rights in the child justice sys-
tem. The adoption of the Beijing Rules (the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the
Administration of Juvenile Justice) by the United Nations in 1985 represented an early
milestone in the establishment of a progressive rights-based approach to children in con-
flict with the law. In 1989, the rights-based approach to youth justice became enshrined as
binding international law with the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the
18 years are entitled to protection of their rights and under Article 3, the child’s best inter-
ests must be a primary consideration in all actions concerning the child whether taken by
private or public bodies or welfare institutions. Together with the CRC’s other general
principles – Article 2 which prohibits discrimination in the enjoyment of Convention
rights, Article 6 which provides for the child’s right to development, and Article 12 which
requires states to assure to children the right to a say in matters that affect them – the
Convention establishes that children are entitled to decision-making that is child-centred,
non-discriminatory and informed both by children’s development and their views. In its
first General Comment on the matter, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the
Committee), the body that monitors implementation of the CRC, made clear that states
parties are required to apply these general principles systematically in the administration
of child justice (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2007, para. 5). In addition to these
more specific provisions relevant to children in conflict with the law. Most importantly,
Article 40(1) provides that states parties to the Convention recognise the right of
every child:
alleged or, accused of or recognised 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.
1185820YJJ0010.1177/14732254231185820Youth JusticeKilkelly and Pleysier
editorial2023
Editorial
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