Ensuring access to justice for all: the 2021 World Congress on Justice with Children

Taghreed Jaber, PRI’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, at the 2018 World Congress 

Children in contact with the law face multi-dimensional violence, discrimination, rights violations, and structural barriers throughout their contact with justice systems. In the first blog of our series for the World Congress on Justice with Children, PRI’s Tríona Lenihan considers the key barriers to children’s equal access to justice and presents the upcoming Congress which focuses on non-discriminatory and inclusive child justice systems. Register for the Congress.

Many children around the world experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, which often result in social exclusion, lack of access to services and resources, and violations of their human rights. Children in contact with criminal justice systems – whether that is as victims, witnesses, or perpetrators – can experience additional discrimination from the justice system itself. Structural discrimination, inequalities, and power dynamics impede children’s equitable access to their rights, which means they require particular care and protection.

Child-friendly justice systems are essential to promoting the rights and well-being of the child. PRI works around the world to promote criminal justice systems which recognise the right of children to special protection, have a minimum age of criminal responsibility of 14 or higher, abolish ‘status offences’ that only criminalise children, and use detention only as a measure of last resort, diverting children away from criminal justice systems wherever possible.

global crises exacerbate existing injustices suffered by children and further limit their access to justice

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child being clear that deprivation of liberty of children should be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. Despite this, however, the UN Global Study on children deprived of liberty in 2019 found that there are at least 410,000 children detained in remand centres and prisons around the world every year, not including an estimated 1 million children held every year in police custody. Children – even more so than adults – can experience serious and long-lasting consequences as a result of imprisonment. It isolates them from their families and communities, carries great stigma for some children, and a high risk of violence and abuse. Certain groups of children – including those from the poorest communities, migrant and indigenous communities, ethnic and religious minorities, the LGBTQ+ community, and children with disabilities – are over-represented both in detention and throughout judicial proceedings. And global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, exacerbate existing injustices suffered by children and further limit their access to justice.

The upcoming World Congress on Justice with Children provides a key opportunity to raise awareness of the risks and barriers faced by children in criminal justice systems, and for professionals, activists and children themselves to exchange learning and best practices to achieve positive change.

Previous Congresses have been held in Lima (2009), Geneva (2015), and most recently in Paris (2018) where nearly 1,000 people from 100 different countries participated in 28 workshops and more than 10 plenary sessions across three days. Among key outputs were the adoption of the Paris Declaration on Prevention of child involvement in violent extremism, and the establishment of various working groups leading to the publication of papers on the impact of brain science, and on child-friendly policing.

the Congress will bring together children, policymakers, legal practitioners, academics, and civil society representatives

This year, the Congress will take place online for the first time, allowing for even greater participation among people that would be unable to travel and children themselves. Centred on the theme “Ensuring access to justice for all children: towards non-discriminatory and inclusive child justice systems”, the Congress will bring together children, policymakers, legal practitioners, academics, and civil society representatives to explore best practices, foster scientific cooperation, raise awareness on child-friendly justice and seek to place children’s rights at the top of the international agenda – with the goal of promoting fair and appropriate justice systems for and with children.

The Congress is organised by the Global Initiative on Justice with Children, which is made up of Terre des hommes, Penal Reform International, International Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates and the International Institute for the Rights of the Child (IDE). This year, the Congress is hosted by the Supreme Court of Mexico, with technical support from UNICEF, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, UNODC, OHCHR and OECD.

Over the past two years, regional preparatory meetings and national consultations have been held in North America, Latin America, Lebanon and Singapore, and online in the USA, Pakistan, Central America and Europe. These meetings provided a platform to discuss and define the main topics and priorities for the Congress. As participants showed particular interest in the child’s right to non-discrimination and equality, this is reflected in many of the themes identified for the Congress, including children from religious and ethnic minorities, LGBTQI children, girls, migrant children, children with disabilities and others.

The aims of the Congress are ambitious, but they need to be – and they are achievable.

To address these complex issues, the Congress will largely focus on exchanging promising practices and strategies from diverse contexts and settings that tackle discrimination, prevent youth offending and reduce youth contact with the justice system. The aims of the Congress are ambitious, but they need to be – and they are achievable. In particular, the 2021 Congress seeks to:

• Define a global strategy to accelerate progress towards child-friendly justice with and for children until the next Congress.
• Foster regional synergies and action plans for the next three years to provide regional roadmaps for implementing the global strategy.
• Collect national pledges to reinforce policies and practices that make real differences in the lives of children in contact with the law.
• Generate a path for action after the plenary sessions and workshops based on the discussion and topics raised.

Now is the time for action. The World Congress on Justice with Children provides a unique opportunity to learn, share, connect, and collaborate to drive real and lasting change in access to justice for children around the world.

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The World Congress on Justice with Children takes place from 15-20th November 2021. This year, registration is free of charge and participants will receive a certificate of attendance. You can register now.