Several countries in the world boast successful rehabilitation and reform tactics regarding youth offenders, which Australia could learn from and adapt. Gerry Georgatos writes.
IN A MESSY WORLD, there is much disagreement on the age limit of youth offenders, but evidence speaks and can go unheard. The USA’s North Carolina has a minimum criminal responsibility age of eight years. Several countries have no minimum age.
The General Comment No. 24 (2019) on Children’s Rights in the Child Justice System recommends a minimum age of culpable criminal responsibility of 14 years. The minimum age in Norway is 15 years, a country that has the world’s lowest rates of child and youth recidivism. Children less than 15 years of age are not held criminally responsible. In Australia, most jurisdictions have ten years.
Eighty per cent of Western Australia’s gaoled children re-offend. Ninety per cent of Norway’s children who offend do not re-offend.
Several countries have implemented strategies that have led to a reduction in juvenile offending and re-offending. Successful approaches often focus on calibrated rehabilitation, uninterrupted education, family or carer support or independent assisted living and alternatives to incarceration.
Here are some examples of countries that have seen positive results:
Finland
- Approach: Finland has drastically reduced the number of incarcerated juveniles by focusing on rehabilitation and restorative justice. The country emphasises alternatives to detention, such as immersive connection to specialist child social services, counselling and educational programs tailored to young children who have offended.
- Results: Juvenile crime has decreased and re-offending rates are low. Finland’s youth justice system works closely with schools and families to address the root causes of delinquency.
Germany
- Approach: Germany emphasises education and vocational training as alternatives to incarceration. Most juvenile offenders are given community-based sentences and imprisonment is seen as a last resort. Germany’s officers in care of children have prior contact with vulnerable children, receiving hundreds of hours of behavioural psychological studies.
- Results: Germany is still a substantive work in progress but has a juvenile justice system focused on reintegration into society. Juvenile detention rates are relatively low and those who do re-offend are offered a wide range of social supports to reduce further criminal behaviour.
New Zealand
- Approach: New Zealand has a long way to go but has adopted restorative justice practices for juveniles, where young offenders meet with their victims to understand the impact of their actions. This method seeks to repair harm rather than punish.
- Results: The country has significantly reduced youth offending and reoffending rates, particularly through family-group conferences that involve offenders, families and victims in deciding appropriate responses.
Netherlands
- Approach: The Netherlands uses early intervention and prevention programs aimed at identifying at-risk youth. Young offenders often undergo rehabilitation in residential settings focused on treatment and education, rather than punishment.
- Results: The juvenile justice system emphasises keeping young offenders out of the formal court system, which has led to a decline in juvenile crime and reoffending rates.
Japan
- Approach: Japan relies heavily on family and community-based approaches to deal with juvenile crime. The legal system focuses on counselling, education and rehabilitation, while incarceration is rare.
- Results: The country has seen a steady decline in juvenile crime, with very low rates of re-offending. This success is attributed to the strong role of families, schools and social services in addressing delinquent behaviour early.
Norway
- Approach: Norway places a strong emphasis on rehabilitation and reintegration into society for juvenile offenders. Incarceration is viewed as a last resort, and the juvenile justice system focuses on education and vocational training.
- Results: Juvenile reoffending rates are low and Norway's overall approach has been widely regarded as effective in preventing young people from becoming repeat offenders. Norway’s success has led to on average only four to six children detained each year for serious offences and they too are immersed in social support so as not to reoffend.
Scotland
- Approach: Scotland has pioneered the “whole system approach” to youth justice, focusing on diversion from prosecution, early and effective intervention, and intensive support for young people.
- Results: Juvenile crime has decreased and re-offending rates are down. The use of detention for young offenders has also been reduced, focusing more on well-resourced community-based interventions.
Common themes among successful countries include:
- Restorative justice: Engaging offenders with victims to understand the consequences of their actions;
- Rehabilitation over punishment: Programs focused on education, job training and counselling;
- Family and community involvement: Strengthening family units and utilising government-funded community resources;
- Diversion from formal justice systems: Keeping young offenders out of formal court proceedings to avoid stigmatisation and promote reintegration. The age of criminal responsibility in the Scandinavian countries is 15, above the minimum age of criminal responsibility recommended by the United Nations; and
- Alternatives to incarceration: Using detention as a last resort and favouring community-based solutions. Having alternatives to incarceration embedded in legislation or in a nation’s constitution, to compel this is a must-do.
These approaches have shown that focusing on the root causes of juvenile delinquency and supporting rehabilitation can significantly reduce both offending and reoffending.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), adopted by the United Nations in 1989, plays a critical role in reshaping and reforming youth justice systems globally by establishing a child-centred framework for dealing with juvenile offenders.
Several ways the CRC has catalysed reforms in youth justice include:
Recognition of children’s rights
The CRC fundamentally shifted the perspective on juvenile justice by recognising children as bearers of rights, rather than merely subjects of adult protection. This recognition encourages reforms that focus on safeguarding the rights of young offenders, ensuring they are treated with dignity and respect. Articles 37 and 40 of the CRC specifically address the treatment of children in conflict with the law.
- Article 37 prohibits torture, inhuman treatment and the death penalty for children, and emphasises that detention should only be used as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period.
- Article 40 guarantees children the right to a fair trial and legal assistance, and promotes alternatives to judicial proceedings where appropriate, such as diversion and rehabilitation programs.
Emphasis on rehabilitation over punishment
The CRC promotes a rehabilitative approach to youth justice, contrasting with punitive models. This has led to reforms in many countries where the focus has shifted from incarceration to restorative justice programs, educational opportunities, counselling and community service. By promoting reintegration into society, the CRC aims to prevent reoffending and support the overall well-being of children in conflict with the law.
Promotion of age-appropriate legal responses
The CRC calls for the establishment of a minimum age of criminal responsibility (Article 40(3)(a)), ensuring that very young children are not subject to criminal prosecution. This has driven many countries to raise the minimum age for criminal responsibility or adopt specialised juvenile courts and processes that tailor legal responses to the age and developmental needs of children. Additionally, the CRC pushes for the separation of juvenile offenders from adults in detention to protect them from exploitation and abuse.
Diversion and alternatives to detention
The CRC advocates for the use of diversion programs, which involve directing children away from formal judicial proceedings in favour of alternative measures such as mediation, community programs, or counselling (Article 40(3)(b)). These alternatives seek to address the root causes of criminal behaviour without the negative consequences of criminal records or imprisonment.
Access to legal representation and fair trial standards
The CRC mandates that children accused of crimes have access to legal assistance and that judicial proceedings take into account the age of the child and the desirability of promoting their reintegration (Article 40(2)). This has prompted reforms in many countries, ensuring that children have proper legal representation, that trials are conducted in a child-friendly manner and that the privacy of the child is protected throughout the judicial process.
Non-discrimination and equal treatment
The CRC enshrines the principle of non-discrimination (Article 2), which requires states to ensure that all children, regardless of background, are treated equally in the justice system. This has been instrumental in driving reforms aimed at addressing disparities in youth justice systems, particularly in relation to marginalised populations, including marginalised descendants of a nation’s First Peoples, ethnic minorities, refugees, or children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Monitoring and reporting mechanisms
States that are parties to the CRC are required to regularly report on the implementation of the Convention to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. These reporting mechanisms encourage accountability and provide a platform for identifying areas of improvement in juvenile justice systems. International scrutiny and recommendations from the Committee have often led to further legislative and policy reforms.
Influence on international and domestic law
The CRC has influenced numerous international standards and guidelines related to youth justice, such as the Beijing Rules (United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice) and the Havana Rules (United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty). These international instruments, in turn, inspire reforms at the national level as states harmonise their laws and policies with these standards.
Advocacy and public awareness
The CRC has galvanised civil society, child rights organisations and international bodies to advocate for youth justice reforms. By raising awareness of the rights and vulnerabilities of children in conflict with the law, it has helped mobilise public opinion and political will to prioritise reforms in this area.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child has been a transformative force in youth justice reform, promoting a rights-based, child-centred approach to dealing with juvenile offenders. It emphasises restorative and life-transformative rehabilitation, fairness, non-discrimination and the protection of children’s dignity, leading to global changes in how youth justice systems operate and encouraging alternatives to punitive, adult-style justice systems.
Getting it right and fair for our most vulnerable children is a must-do and will lead to getting it right for all incarcerated souls, no matter how old.
Gerry Georgatos is a suicide prevention and poverty researcher with an experiential focus on social justice.
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