AYJ Response: CRAE Call for Written Evidence: Civil Society Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

The AYJ has responded to the Children’s Rights Alliance for England’s (CRAE) call for written evidence to inform the Civil Society Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child 2022. 

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child are set to examine the UK’s adherence to its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2023. The examination process allows for civil society to highlight concerns to the UK government and the UN Committee surrounding children’s rights, recommendations for change, and to track progress. CRAE is leading this process on behalf of civil society in England, and will submit an ‘Alternative Report’ to be considered by the UN Committee alongside the UK Government response. More information on the process is available here. 

The AYJ’s response focuses on key developments across the youth justice system since 2020 when the civil society submission to inform the List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPR) was published. Recommendations include: 

• A Cabinet-level Minister for Children, to work across departments to create and provide oversight and accountability for a national strategy for children 

• The publication of disaggregated data, and of ethnographic and outcome research, on virtual justice for children 

• A review of implementation of the National Strategy for the Policing of Children & Young People 

• Actions to improve and clarify the response to Child Criminal Exploitation in the community and in court, and evaluate the support currently available  

• Increasing the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 

• Reforms to tackle delays to case progression and in particular the impact on those turning 18 

• New legislative criteria that significantly narrows the circumstances in which a child can be sentence to custody 

• A national strategy and improvement plan to be urgently developed that sets out a comprehensive, long-term vision for children in custody 

• A review of the work undertaken by YOTs to address the findings of the thematic inspection into the experiences of black and mixed heritage boys.  

Full response: Response to CRAE call for Written Evidence: Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child