Human Rights for ‘Hard Cases’: Alternatives to Imprisonment for Serious Offending by Children and Youth

Young Adults in the Justice System: The Interplay between Scientific Insights, Legal Reform and Implementation in Practice in The Netherlands

“…In the Netherlands, it was decided not to change the maximum detention sentences under the juvenile criminal law and it remains unclear to what extent this influences the limited application of juvenile sentences to young adult accused. Lynch (2018) has argued that in the case of a lack of a principled response to serious, violent offending by young people, punitiveness can thrive. She describes how the dominant approach, at least in Western common law countries, is to waive the young person to the adult criminal justice system where exponentially more punitive sentences may be imposed (Lynch, 2018: 155–156).…”

Kinderrechten en de positie van jongvolwassenen

“…Daarmee wordt bedoeld dat in dergelijke gevallen -waarin het kind dus niet voldoet aan het beeld van een 'normale', onschuldige jeugdige -de heersende opvatting is dat de jeugdige in het geheel niet meer in de categorie 'kind' zou moeten vallen. 14 Hoewel ieder individu beneden de leeftijd van 18 jaar in beginsel aanspraak maakt op de rechten uit het IVRK, lijkt de veronderstelling bij kinderrechten niet automatisch te zijn dat deze ook zouden moeten gelden voor 'oudere kinderen', oftewel adolescenten. 15 Het is moeilijk om adolescentie, de periode tussen kindertijd en volwassenheid, precies te definiëren aan de hand van leeftijden.…”

Towards a Principled Legal Response to Children Who Kill

“…Such punitive sentences have a disproportionate effect on children, with minimum terms of imprisonment sometimes exceeding the child’s lifespan to date. In New Zealand, the minimum term attached to a life sentence for a child convicted of murder generally ranges from 11–14 years (Lynch, 2018a), and a 16-year-old has been sentenced to life with 17-year minimum term ( R v Hamilton , 2005). Approximately 20 individuals are serving life imprisonment for offences committed while aged less than 17, with an unknown number of 17-year-olds who are above the present age of penal majority (Lynch, 2018a).…”

“…In New Zealand, the minimum term attached to a life sentence for a child convicted of murder generally ranges from 11–14 years (Lynch, 2018a), and a 16-year-old has been sentenced to life with 17-year minimum term ( R v Hamilton , 2005). Approximately 20 individuals are serving life imprisonment for offences committed while aged less than 17, with an unknown number of 17-year-olds who are above the present age of penal majority (Lynch, 2018a). In England, in 2017, two 15-year-old children were handed sentences of life imprisonment with minimum terms of 17½ years ( Markham and Edwards v R , 2017), reduced from 20 years on appeal.…”

“…Indeed, the question of appropriate responses to serious offending by children, and how interests such as those of victims’ families and society may be considered in such responses, is an understudied topic. Although the general principles provide a framework for a child-centred response, human rights standards’ relatively muted specific guidance on such situations may leave a space for punitive laws and practices to continue (Lynch, 2018a). What might such principled, yet practical guidance look like?…”