Youth Justice News
| Author | Tim Bateman |
| DOI | 10.1177/1473225416687442 |
| Published date | 01 April 2017 |
| Date | 01 April 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Youth Justice News |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1473225416687442
Youth Justice
2017, Vol. 17(1) 85 –95
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/1473225416687442
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Youth Justice News
Compiled by Tim Bateman
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child
Recommends That the UK should ensure that Children in
Conflict With the Law are Always Processed Through a Justice
System Distinct From That for Adults
The United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of Child monitors the compliance of
states who are signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with the
Convention’s provisions. In June 2016, the Committee published the results of its fourth
examination of the performance of the UK government: the ‘concluding observations’
not only noted some areas of improvement in the period since the last report in 2008 but
also highlighted a variety of concerns including in the treatment of children who are
alleged to have broken the law.
Among the general reservations raised by the Committee was the fact that anti-
discrimination legislation exempts children from the protections of those statutory pro-
visions. Children in particular groups, including ‘Roma, Gypsy and Traveller children,
children of other ethnic minorities, children with disabilities, children in care, migrant,
asylum-seeking and refugee children, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and intersex children’, continue to experience discrimination and stigmatisation. The
Committee noted with regret that ‘recent fiscal policies and allocation of resources’
have impacted negatively on the enjoyment of children’s rights with particularly
adverse consequences for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Under Article 3
of the Convention, the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in all
actions that concern children, but the Committee found that this principle ‘is still not
reflected in all legislative and policy matters and judicial decisions affecting
children’.
Despite Article 12 of the Convention requiring respect for children’s views, the
Committee determined that children’s voices were not systematically heard in policy
making and that many
Corresponding author:
Tim Bateman, Department of Applied Social Studies, University of Bedfordshire, University Square, LUTON LU1 3JU, UK.
Email: tim.bateman@beds.ac.uk
687442YJJ0010.1177/1473225416687442Youth JusticeBateman
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