A Rights-Based Analysis of Youth Justice in the United Kingdom
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A RIGHTS-BASED ANALYSIS OF YOUTH JUSTICE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS 2 A RIGHTS-BASED ANALYSIS OF YOUTH JUSTICE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS Figures and tables Figure 1: Number of Children Referred to the Children’s Reporter in Scotland – 2006/07 to 2019/20 Figure 2: Children’s Hearing Panel – The Key Individuals Involved Figure 3: Key Demographic Data of Children in Scottish Secure Care - 2019 Figure 4: Number of First Time Entrants (FTEs) in Wales: 2009-2019 Figure 5: Rates of First Time Entrants (FTEs) in Wales: 2009 -2019 Figure 6: Swansea Number of First Time Entrants (FTEs) - Year Ending March 2009 to 2013 Figure 7: Non-Criminal Disposals (NCDs) as a Proportion of All Swansea Bureau Model Disposals. Administered 2009/10 to 2012/13 Figure 8: The Stages of the Trauma Recovery Model Figure 9: Permanent School Exclusions in Wales Figure 10: Fixed Term Exclusions (Over 5 Days) in Wales Figure 11: Number of First Time Entrants (FTEs) in England: 2009-2019 Table1: Children’s Reporter Decisions in Scotland – 2019/20 Table 2: Secure Care Provision in Scotland Table 3: Scottish School Exclusions (2006/07-2018/19) Table 4: Number of Arrests 2010-2018 by Welsh Police Service Area Table 5: Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility (MACR) Across Europe Table 6: Child Arrests by English Police Forces: 2010-2018 Table 7: Use of Force Incidents in English Secure Training Centres (STC) – Year Ending March 2019 Table 8: Number and Proportion of Arrests for Recorded Crime (Notifiable Offences) of Children by Self-Defined Ethnicity in English Police Force Areas Table 9: ‘Permanent’ and ‘Fixed Period’ School Exclusions in England – 2013/14 to 2018/19 Table 10: Juvenile Justice Centre (JJC) Demographic Data - 2018/19 CONTENTS FIGURES AND TABLES ................................................................................................... 4 FOREWORD ..................................................................................................................................... 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 8 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1 YOUTH JUSTICE IN SCOTLAND ........................................................................ 11 CHAPTER 2 YOUTH JUSTICE IN WALES .................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 3 YOUTH JUSTICE IN ENGLAND ............................................................................ 66 CHAPTER 4 YOUTH JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND ......................................... 104 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................... 118 ADDITIONAL REFERENCES ..................................................................................... 121 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was compiled by Aaron Brown, Youth Justice Specialist at Unicef UK. Prior to joining Unicef UK, Aaron completed a PhD in youth justice at Swansea University. Before entering academia, he spent time working in the UK Parliament. FOREWORD This most welcome report comes at the beginning The report evidences many encouraging of a periodic review (2021–22) by the UN Committee developments and will be a valuable resource for on the Rights of the Child of the UK State Party’s learning from the different progressive experiences implementation of the Convention on the Rights of and approaches. There remain, however, some the Child. In past periodic reviews, it has already glaring contradictions, most notably in the been seen that devolution within the UK has enabled persistence of low minimum ages of criminal differences to emerge in approaches to and extent responsibility which are out of step with the way in of implementation. There are benefits in this, but which children are treated in civil and administrative it brings complexity in terms of accountability. proceedings in the UK, with minimum ages of Unicef UK’s support for non-governmental reporting criminal responsibility in comparable European within the UK has been pivotal in navigating countries and of course, with the requirements of this complexity, and this report makes a further, the Convention. important contribution. The report will undoubtedly assist in efforts to hold Wales and Scotland have, unlike Northern Ireland, the governments of the UK to account for their enjoyed uninterrupted devolved government for implementation of the Convention. It is to be hoped over two decades, and in both countries, explicit that it will be embraced by duty-bearers at all levels promotion of the Convention is a consistent theme as a solid foundation to inform future programmes in public policy and law reform. This is evident in of work. relation to strategies on children’s social services, education, care, child poverty and structures for civic participation as well the area with which this report Professor Jane Williams is concerned: youth justice. Observatory on Human Rights of Children Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law Swansea University, October 22, 2020 Efforts to protect, respect and fulfil the human rights of children must recognise the interdependence and connectedness of these several fields. Links between socio-economic deprivation, exclusion from education, family instability and offending are very well established. Applying to this fact the lens of the Convention’s requirements, we can see that where children’s rights to protection, care, inclusive education, adequate accommodation, social security and voice are delivered, there will be fewer children involved in the youth justice system. Within the youth justice system, they will be treated as ‘children first, offenders second’. This report delivers a much-needed, in-depth and up to date account of how the systems of youth justice within the UK are performing against that standard. 6 A RIGHTS-BASED ANALYSIS OF YOUTH JUSTICE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS UNICEF UK AND YOUTH JUSTICE IN THE UK Youth justice processes and practices should This report represents Unicef UK’s first examination never operate to undermine children’s rights, of youth justice issues to date and offers a series but instead, should always seek to empower of recommendations outlining the changes Unicef and uphold them. UK believes are required to ensure that the rights of children who are in contact with the law are properly It is Unicef UK’s belief that a youth justice protected and upheld. The report undertakes a system that consistently works in children’s rights-based literature review of youth justice process best interests and actively promotes their and practice in Scotland, Wales, England, Northern rights will lead to better, fairer and more Ireland and Jersey1 – which is supplemented by beneficial outcomes for children and the views of children and young people and key wider society. stakeholders. The report identifies examples of innovation and progress in each of these locations, but also draws critical attention to areas of concern where currently children’s rights are not sufficiently upheld or could be enhanced further. 1 Jersey is briefly analysed within the report because of its recent ratification of the UNCRC. A RIGHTS-BASED ANALYSIS OF YOUTH JUSTICE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Key areas of concern SCOTLAND WALES The minimum age of criminal responsibility The minimum age of criminal responsibility set at 12 years old set at 10 years old The lack of routine direct child participation The potential for tasers to be used on children within the Early and Effective Intervention in Wales approach The lack of data, knowledge and The appearance of children under 18 years of understanding around the impact of youth age in adult courts in Scotland (particularly in diversion on specific groups of children respect of 16- and 17-year-olds) The identification in the media of children The identification in the media of children under 18 years of age who have committed under 18 years of age who have committed criminal offences criminal offences The practice of regularly placing Welsh The potential for tasers to be used on children children in youth detention facilities in Scotland away from their home locations (and, correspondingly, English children routinely The welfare of children who are on remand in being placed in Welsh youth detention young offender institutions settings) The use of solitary confinement in young The rise in numbers of permanent school offender institutions exclusions The impacts of Covid-19 on children held in The lack of robust, publicly available youth detention Wales-only (rather than England and The practice of placing children from Wales) statistical data relating to children’s outside Scotland in Scottish secure care interaction with specific stages of the youth accommodation – away from their home justice system locations, and with an associated impact on secure care provision for Scottish children The lack of robust, publicly available statistical data relating to children’s interaction with specific stages of the youth justice system 8 A RIGHTS-BASED ANALYSIS OF YOUTH JUSTICE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS Key areas of concern ENGLAND2 NORTHERN IRELAND The minimum age of criminal responsibility The minimum age of criminal responsibility set at 10 years old set at 10