On this National Children’s Day of November 20, 2023, the International Bureau for Children’s Rights (“The Bureau”) appeals to governments to make child-friendly justice a priority and to make it concrete and tangible for children.
Children come into contact with justice systems on a daily basis: during divorce proceedings, to obtain legal documents, as victims, witnesses or accused of criminal acts, during migration processes, etc. These situations often constitute an ordeal for children, because the laws, procedures, mechanisms, professional practices, i.e. everything that constitutes the environment of justice, are still too intended for the reality of adults. Our justice system, designed by and for adults, is still too unsuitable for children, their needs, their situation and above all their rights.
If Canada is officially committed to the right of children to access justice and to benefit from justice that is adapted to them, notably through the ratification in 1991 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child , the Office advocates for specific measures which take into account the reality and particular needs of children and which concretize international and national commitments in favor of justice adapted to children. This requires the implementation and respect of three approaches linked to each other.
Child-centered justice.
That is to say, justice that is beneficial to the child and respectful of their best interests. It must be accessible, therefore explained and rendered in terms that are understandable to children; effective, therefore implemented in a coordinated manner and within reasonable deadlines; and participatory, taking care to take into account the child’s opinion, sought at all times and by means adapted to the age and trajectory of each child. Such justice can only see the light of day by listening to the experience of children who have been in contact with justice, and by integrating their recommendations into legislation, approaches and practices.
Restorative justice.
That is to say a justice which avoids repression, aims at the rehabilitation and social reintegration of the child, in particular through a process of accountability. It is a justice that seeks to repair, particularly because the children who face it have often experienced unstable, hostile or vulnerable situations. This restorative justice also requires diversion of cases involving children, that is to say, that they be handled outside of court. And specifically for children “in conflict with the law”, restorative justice systematically favors measures other than deprivation of liberty, even for children suspected of terrorism or in a migration situation.
A justice system made up of several complementary systems.
The formal system embodied by our courts and tribunals is sometimes superimposed on traditional, customary and indigenous methods of justice which integrate mechanisms to judge, protect, defend and listen to children. Taking these systems into account and the dialogue between the formal and informal systems also contribute to justice adapted to children. Whatever the justice system concerned, the child must be able to access it and find justice that allows him to assert all of his rights.
Many of the governments with which the Office collaborates are engaged in reforms, strategic plans or changes to their justice systems. This National Children’s Day is an opportunity for the Office to mobilize our decision-makers on the concrete integration of the three approaches necessary for justice adapted to children. The Office takes particular care to accompany and support them so that this results in the establishment of know-how and interpersonal skills which, beyond theoretical aspirations, allow the actors of justice systems to act in the best interests of children.
Justice actors also need an institutional framework that is coordinated and provides them with adequate time, tools and resources. This is how the child in contact with the justice system can be fully integrated into the procedure, made accountable and supported by the implementation of assistance, protection and rehabilitation measures.
It is in favor of this whole that the Office is committed on a daily basis, so that these children in contact with the justice system, often already vulnerable, can benefit from systems which truly serve their rights.