Abstract
The conventional discourse on child participation in the context of justice revolves around a child’s right to be heard in judicial and other legal proceedings. Progress has been slow in institutionalising the protection of this right, but there is another gap that does not receive sufficient consideration. Systemic integration of the voices of children, including those deprived of liberty, is integral for the effective and productive development and implementation of child-friendly justice systems, which positively impacts societies as a whole. This chapter explores the concept of systemic child participation in justice, including its justifications, modern trends, intergenerational dimensions, effective approaches, and case studies, to illustrate the importance of this holistic approach and advocate for a shift in our conventional notion of child participation in justice.
The authors would like to acknowledge the inputs from Kristen Hope in drafting this chapter.
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Notes
- 1.
The full definition of child-friendly justice is as follows: ‘justice systems which guarantee the respect and the effective implementation of all children’s rights at the highest attainable level, bearing in mind the principles listed below and giving due consideration to the child’s level of maturity and understanding and the circumstances of the case. It is, in particular, justice that is accessible, age appropriate, speedy, diligent, adapted to and focused on the needs and rights of the child, respecting the rights of the child including the rights to due process, to participate in and to understand the proceedings, to respect for private and family life and to integrity and dignity.’
- 2.
‘Young people’ is not defined within the Charter, but it is reasonable to conclude that the group included children based on the content of the document. In addition, in the Council of Europe’s Recommendation on the participation of children and young people under the age of 18, ‘young people’ is defined identically to ‘children’ as a person under the age of 18, though the footnote suggests that it refers to children older than 12 or 13 years (Council of Europe, 2012, section I on ‘Definitions’). This definition is limited to the confines of the Recommendation, but it suggests that the Council of Europe may have generally considered a relatively larger age range of children in defining ‘young people’, as compared to the definition used by United Nations agencies that includes children and youth between the ages of 10 and 24.
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Foussard, C., Jung, H.R. (2022). Towards a Holistic Approach to Systemic Child Participation for Child-Friendly Justice. In: Gomes, S., Carvalho, M.J.L.d., Duarte, V. (eds) Incarceration and Generation, Volume II. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82276-7_3
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