Convention on the Rights of the Child, or CROC, is a legal mechanism that essentially protects the rights covering civil, cultural, economic, political and social of young people (those under the age of 18, based on The Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection Act) 1998 (NSW)). CROC was put in place so that legal systems would stop trialing and sentencing children as adults, as it was deemed unfair because of the lack of maturity and development in children compared to that of an adult. Some of the many rights identified in CROC for young people are, the right to know about your nationality, name and family, the right to freedom of expression of information if not lawfully, the right to be protected from neglect and abuse, the right …show more content…
Doli Incapax assists in the effectiveness of CROC, as it sets out the age of criminal responsibility, which acts as a guideline for the purposes of CROC, and who different countries classify as "children". The age depends on when the particular country believes that a child is capable of forming the intent to commit a crime, and should take full responsibility for their actions. However, the range of ages is fairly wide, and some would disagree on others, as children's brains are not fully developed and they don’t know right from wrong, or in the other case, that a teenager does now know wrong from right and can form the intent to commit an offense. The age of criminal responsibility ranges around the world from as young as 7 in Kuwait, to 18 in Argentina, with Australia being 10. Those child offenders under the age of criminal responsibility will be dealt with through warnings, cautions and Youth Justice Centers, rather than being trialed as an adult and being sent to prison. Although most of the time effective, Doli Incapax can be problematic, in the way that it is often difficult to determine whether a child offender knew that the act that they committed was wrong and whether they state this during a police interview or in court. In this case, the prosecution …show more content…
As part of Australia's commitment to CROC, they must report to the UN every 5 years about the state of children's rights, and the UN is able to monitor Australia's commitment to protecting and promoting children's rights. After ratifying, Australia was required to do things such as, view all existing laws to ensure that they complied to the policies and the rights in under CROC, and make changes to those that weren't, develop systems to review and monitor new laws to make sure that they complied with CROC and incorporate the rights into Australian Commonwealth State, and Territory law. CROC and its articles are enforced throughout Australia, however some of these policies, they have not complied with. The Young Offenders Act 1997 (NSW) has the aim of providing measures for young offenders instead of trials at court, and only applies to summary and indictable offences that can be dealt with summarily. Under the act, young offenders have the righ to proceed through a three-step system consisting of a warning for a minor offence, then a caution if the offence is more serious, and then Youth Justice Conferences, where young people can goinstead of through the court system for serious crimes in a form of
The rights of all children & young people are stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
The UNCRC have 54 articles that outline and define the rights of children, some of which are;
It includes the right to protection from abuse, the right to express their views and have them listened to and the right to care and services for disabled children or children living away from home. Although the Government has said it regards itself bound by the Convention and refers to it in child protection guidance, it has not become part of UK-wide law.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a legally-binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities.
The convention on the rights of the child 1989- The Convention's objective is to protect children from discrimination, neglect and abuse. It is the principal children's treaty, covering a full range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. It grants rights for children in peacetime as well as during armed conflict, and provides for the implementation of those rights. It can promote anti-discriminatory practice by giving children protection and rights. It can also make sure that children will be given somewhere safe to be; not near any war zones and hazardous areas which could cause ill- health.
- The United Nations Convention on the rights of children (UNCRC) states that all children have voices and have the right to be heard, whether this is regarding activities they are doing or what is happening in their lives both in school and at home, the should be allowed to express their feelings and opinions. It also states that children have the right to be protected from all forms of physical, mental and sexual abuse as well as neglect.
The United Nations convention on the rights of the child is to promote all aspects for the care, development and education of children, non discrimination on the grounds of gender, religion, disability, language, ethnic/social origin, civil and political rights, economic, social, cultural and protective rights.
Current legislation, guidelines and policies regarding the safeguarding of children and young people relevant to own home country:
A framework called Hear by Right gives ideas to adults, young people and children on how they can be involved in the services provided for them and have their concerns taken seriously.
However, in 1990 The Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified in Australia, meaning that the Australian Government has committed to make sure every child has the rights under all 54 articles. Article 37 and 40 specifically relates to juvenile crime; article 37(b) outlines that “arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.” Article 37(c) states that “every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity… shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child’s best interest.” Furthermore, Article 40 states that “the establishment of a minimum age below which child shall be presumed not to have the capacity to infringe the penal law.” Internationally, the acceptable minimum age of criminal responsibility is 12 and in all Australian states and territories it is 10. The current law in Australia has been criticised by the United Nations and has not kept up with these international standards. Specifically, the law in Queensland shows inconsistency; in the Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld), a child is an individual under 18 years old, whereas in the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld) the definition of a child is a person under the age of 17 allowing for children who turn 18 with at least six months of their
The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (1989) is an international human rights treaty that grants all children a comprehensive set of rights. The convention has 54 articles and it sets out in detail what every child needs to have for a safe, happy and fulfilled childhood. Article 19 states children’s rights to be ‘protected from all
In 1989 the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was introduced as an international human rights treaty setting out the rights of all children to equal treatment For legislative purposes, the term child means everyone up to the age of eighteen. The treaty covers a list of rights that everyone under the age of eighteen should be entitled to which include a full range of human rights from civil to economic to political.
Researchers have discussed that at the age between 12 and 15 is when a child starts to develop the understanding of their actions. Psychologically, their brain starts to advance into creating their own thought process. Dr. William Womack a Psychiatrist states that young children have not yet developed the mind set to value another human’s life. A minor who commits a crime at a young age should pay for the consequences as an adult would. Their thought process doesn’t start after they commit the crime, it starts before they commit the crime. I believe that when a minor commits a violent crime they know what they are doing.
Young people represent the future of society. Consequently, they deserve respect and support while they develop in order to maintain a fair and just society. Therefore, it is the juvenile justice system’s responsibility to establish institutions and legislation to protect the important role that young people play in society. The system should also be driven by welfare and justice concerns as young people have special needs in regards to their age, and their physical, emotional and social development. It is essential that these welfare and justice concerns are addressed effectively by the system in order for young people to flourish. This essay will firstly assess the NSW juvenile justice system in regards to its treatment of young offenders in detention, in conjunction with its obligations under domestic and international law. Additionally, this essay will analyse evidence of welfare and justice concerns for youth offenders in detention in NSW. And furthermore, this essay will analyse the implications of youth detention on young offender’s and society. And ultimately argue that the NSW contemporary juvenile justice system is not driven by welfare and justice concerns. Given the fact that NSW has the highest rate of youth detention in Australia, and that there is overwhelming evidence to support the idea that youth detention carries detrimental physical and psychological consequences. Furthermore, the NSW juvenile justice system is not upholding the fact that young people
The federal government of Canada fifteen years ago, in 1984, the Liberal party changed the Juvenile Delinquents Acts to the Youth Offenders Act to have a “More human approach to the rights of young people before the law”(Leschild and Jaffe, 8:1991). In the present such as Premier, Mike Harris, of Ontario wants the federal government of Canada to scrap the Young Offenders Act. In 1999, the same party that came up with the act is making majors changes to the act. This report will look at the young offenders act at the present time, look at why kids commit crime, what is being done to improve the act, what has the province done towards teenagers and also a look at the United Sates youth system.