Topic History
Definitions
Juvenile Delinquent - young people, usually defined as being between the ages of 10 and 18, who have committed some act that violates the law. These acts aren't called “crimes” as they would be for adults; rather, crimes committed by minors are called “delinquent acts”
Parole - the release of a prisoner temporarily (for a special purpose) or permanently before the completion of a sentence, on the promise of good behavior
Minors - any child under the age of 18
Juvenile justice encompasses the safety, treatment, and respectable care of juveniles who have committed delinquent acts. Across the world, the juvenile age ranges from 10 to 20 years old, and despite the existence of juvenile delinquency in every nation, there does not yet exist a universal standard for juvenile care. Despite attempts by the United Nations to unify juvenile justice practices, nations continue to mistreat and unjustly incarcerate children. SOCHUM delegates will create a comprehensive solution to reduce juvenile delinquency around the world as well as set standards for appropriate punishment and care of delinquents who have been detained.
The modern idea of juvenile justice - trying children in an official court and sentencing them to a facility or treatment center - is a relatively new concept. The first official juvenile justice systems were created in the 19th century, and now every developed nation has a system in place to handle minors who have committed delinquents.
United States
In the United States, the Society for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency founded the New York House of Refuge in 1825, the first juvenile center in North America. The program expanded to major cities and the first official juvenile court case took place in 1899. For many years, there was little legal guidelines about how juveniles were to be tried, so courts and judges were not required to strictly follow normal court proceedings. Exceptions were made, rules were broken, and juvenile punishments took a more flexible and non-adversarial approach. However, transformative cases like Kent v. United States forced American courts to be more strict about legal proceedings with young criminals. Current legal dialogue in America is now focused on what rights and methods from criminal proceedings should be transferred to juvenile courts (for example, juveniles are denied a trial by a jury). Juvenile centers in America continue to face criticism for not offering enough educational resources to their delinquents and for the high rate of repeated offenses by minors. Once a child in America commits a crime, they are more likely to commit a second crime after completing their sentence within the justice system.
India
In India, juvenile justice did not develop similar to the American system. Beginning in 1850, specific laws were passed India that protected young criminals that instead focused on an apprenticeship program. If a minor committed a non-violent and non-serious crime, than that child was placed into an apprenticeship with a professional (like a tailor, blacksmith, farmer, etc.) and was taught a professional skill to use once they completed their rehabilitation. The Indian government believed that apprenticeship was superior to direct punishment or confinement because it would deter future offenses and give young criminals the ability to find jobs after they had finished with their apprenticeships. However, data shows that after the law took effect, juvenile delinquency rose drastically. To account for this rise in young criminals, India passed The Whipping Act of 1864.
At the time, India was under British control, and Great Britain instead decided to replace physical punishment like whipping with a jail system more like the American process. In doing so, each region of India, over the course of many years, developed different and conflicting legal proceedings for young criminals. In 1960, India passed The Children Act, which created a uniform process for juvenile courts to follow. Finally, in 2000, India redesigned their court system with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. This law, which was later amended in 2006, re-introduced the idea of vocational programs and apprenticeships that were more adapted to the modern world. Since 2006, volunteer organizations have been allowed to work with young criminals to provide them with work opportunities, job experience, and education. In 2015, the law was again amended to allow for 16-18 year-old to be tried as adults if accused of serious crime like murder or armed robbery.
The United States and India have been used as examples to show that many nations have developed different juvenile court systems, each with varying degrees of success. Throughout history, most countries have used a combination of vocational training, education, detention centers, physical punishment, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, mandatory community service, and other methods of punishment for young criminals.
Summary
- The United States often placed juveniles in detention housing like regular prisons, but India has used a combination of detention centers and vocational programs to give juveniles work experience.
- Many nations don’t agree on the correct way to house juveniles, and often have conflicting juvenile justice systems.
Previous UN Action
Since the creation of the United Nations in 1948, the organization has been concerned with the rights, safety, and dignity of children around the world. For many years, the UN’s mission to protect children primarily involved children living in war-torn countries, suffering from malnourishment and poverty, or victims of tragic human rights violations. Only in the last part of the 20th century did the United Nations begin focusing energy on protecting children who were in contact or conflict with the law.
The United Nations first passed the General Assembly Resolution 40/33 of November 29th, 1983, that led to the adoption of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice. It was later recognized that this document was not specific or direct enough in protecting juvenile delinquents, and so an expansion to the resolution, the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, was passed in 1990. In these new guidelines, referred to as the Riyadh Guidelines (pronounced ree-yawd), the United Nation declares:
“In the implementation of the present Guidelines, in accordance with national legal systems, the well-being of young persons from their early childhood should be the focus of any preventive programme... The need for and importance of progressive delinquency prevention policies and the systematic study and the elaboration of measures should be recognized. These should avoid criminalizing and penalizing a child for behaviour that does not cause serious damage to the development of the child or harm to others.”
This transition from focusing on punishment to allowing juvenile justice to become a comprehensive program that emphasizes the development of the child was transformative in the protection of juveniles. From 1990 onwards, efforts from the United Nations to provide support to juvenile delinquents has followed these guidelines, including the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, released in December of that year. This document, again added further detail about juveniles under arrest or awaiting trial, the management of juvenile facilities, education, vocational training, and work.
In 2006, the United Nations released the Manual for the Measurement of Juvenile Justice Indicators in coordination with UNICEF to spread awareness about the prevention of juvenile delinquency. This document (please do not try to read the whole report!) lists important qualifications that facilities should use when assessing the success of their juvenile justice programs. The inclusion of aftercare, separation from parents and other adults, child deaths, and prevention mechanisms reinforced the need for comprehensive care around the world.
A report from the Human Rights Watch revealed that the United Nations will be completing a study in 2017 that again focuses on juvenile delinquency after multiple reports of human rights violations in juvenile centers around the world. This is expected to result in, “systematic monitoring of abusive practices, increased compliance with international standards, and a dramatic reduction in the number of children deprived of their liberty.”
Summary
- The United Nations has passed multiple resolutions and reports that identify the need to protect juvenile delinquents and ensure that they have a safe and productive environment.
- Recent amendments to these resolutions stress the need for comprehensive care and shows the need for more prevention programs.
- In response to nations that continue illegal and inhuman practices against juveniles (as will be discussed in the Current Situation), the UN plans to continue research into improvement for the juvenile justice system.
Current Situation
Current Situation
Although significant progress has been made in the protection of juvenile delinquents around, there still remain issues that remain to be addressed. In this conference, SOCHUM delegates will be asked to discuss the current human rights violations in the justice system, the treatment of mental health within the juvenile justice system, and improving prevention methods for juveniles who are susceptible to crime. The goal for the conference is for resolutions to outline methods to ensure that all juveniles are protected under law and provided basic human rights and that prevention methods are put into place that aim to reduce the number of juvenile delinquents worldwide.
Human Rights Violations in the Juvenile System
Despite multiple resolutions from the United Nations dictating a basic foundation for how juveniles should be cared for, many nations around the world continue to act outside of these rules. As of now, there exists no legal ramifications for nations that mistreat and abuse juveniles, a task that SOCHUM delegates should consider in their committee work.
One guaranteed right to all juvenile delinquents is a guarantee of the prohibition of life without parole. This means that a juvenile cannot be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of ever being able to leave for good behavior or other reasons. Life without parole is typically only given to the most serious of adult offenders, and is thus not allowed in juvenile cases. Currently, the United States, against the wishes of many international bodies, sentences juveniles to life without parole for homicide. Australia has also reportedly sentenced juveniles to life sentences without parole for crimes like homicide and planning of terrorist attacks.
In debates over juvenile delinquency, another recurring topic is the separation of juveniles and adults in prison facilities. Research has shown that juveniles recover better and are safer and healthier when kept separate from adults, and so many nations have adopted laws that explicitly prohibit juveniles from living with adults in prison. However, in some nations, including Israel and Bangladesh, this is not required by law, and so mixing occurs. The United Nations and other international groups, in documents such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, call for consequences for nations that do not adhere to these rules.
The most serious of violations against juvenile delinquents is of course the death penalty, which continues to occur in some countries. Almost every developed nation has laws that explicitly outlaw the death penalty for juvenile criminals, but countries like Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia have recently been accused of putting to death multiple juveniles for serious crimes like murder. In February of 2016, the Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that Iran had executed a juvenile who had committed murder at the age of 16. Included in the same report shows evidence that Pakistan recently executed a man who was found guilty for a murder that he committed at the age of 15. Furthermore, in Saudi Arabia, multiple insurgents who were captured as children were recently executed in early 2016.
Questions to Consider
- Should life without parole for juveniles actually be banned around the world?
- How should the UN punish nations like the US and Australia who ignore this rule?
- How can the UN ensure that juveniles and adults are not housed together in prison facilities? What if prisons cannot afford separate housing?
- Should juveniles who have committed murder be legally protected from execution?
- How should nations like Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia be reprimanded for executing juveniles?
- Does the UN have a responsibility to use military force to protect juveniles who might otherwise be executed?
Preventing Juvenile Delinquency
Research from the United Nations has shown that causes of juvenile delinquency change from region to region. In Africa and Latin America, crimes are typically related to homelessness, hunger, and poverty. Asian juvenile delinquency is highly concentrated in urban areas, delinquents in Europe and the US are typically charged with theft, vandalism, or destruction of property. To account for this, prevention methods must be comprehensive, working to assess the needs of minors and juveniles everywhere in the world.
Homelessness is often considered a major influence in juvenile delinquency, with homeless youth being much more likely to commit crimes and end up in conflict with the law. Some nations also consider homelessness itself to be against the law, thus placing homeless youth in even more danger to be incarcerated. Homeless youth often have less education and vocational training, which also prevents them from finding meaningful work and lifting themselves out of homelessness. Because lowering the amount of homeless youths in the world will also help to prevent juvenile delinquency, the United Nations must focus on methods to help combat the high number of young people that live on the streets.
A second large indicator linked to juvenile delinquency is gang violence. Young people who are involved in gangs are more likely to be associated with serious violent and nonviolent crimes including assault, battery, murder, petty theft, armed robbery, and drug-related charges. Research done by the World Health Organization listed the following reasons for youth being attracted to gang activity: “a lack of opportunity for social or economic mobility, within a society that aggressively promotes consumption; a decline locally in the enforcement of law and order; interrupted schooling, combined with low rates of pay for unskilled labour; a lack of guidance, supervision and support from parents and other family members; harsh physical punishment or victimization in the home; and having peers who are already involved in a gang.” These characteristics are clearly not limited to only one country or region, and as a result, youth involved in gang violence has spread to urban areas all around the world.
Questions to Consider
What can the UN do to help prevent the spread of youth homelessness?
How can the UN reduce the amount of crime committed by homeless youth?
Should young gang members be tried as adults or in juvenile court?
What methods can countries use to reduce gang violence and keep young people from joining gangs?
How can juvenile delinquent centers help young people avoid homelessness and gang activity after they have been released from prison?
Further Research
Further Research
In beginning your research, delegates should first consider the juvenile justice system in their own countries. Does it follow all of the guidelines given in the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency? If not, what must your country change?
The case studies given in the Topic History (the United States and India) are only two examples of different systems of juvenile justice. Delegates should make some comparisons between their own systems and that of other nations? Are they similar? What is different?
UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund) has also done substantial work in the field of juvenile delinquency. Highlights from their work is given below (these are very long so only look for important information!).
Children’s Equitable Access to Justice: Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 2015
Insights: Promoting equitable access to justice for all children, 2014
Torture and Ill-Treatment in the Context of Juvenile Justice, 2013
Juvenile Justice in Central Asia, 2012
Delegates may also want to read reports from the International Summit on the Legal Needs of Street Youth in June of 2015. The summit compiled fact sheets and case studies to address the needs of homeless youth in the following ten countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, Peru, Russia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
Other resources include the following news sources:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Finally, these resources are non-exhaustible. Explore what interests you! I would love to see new ideas and interesting perspectives from every delegate. I am looking for delegates with creative solutions. Good luck with your research and preparation!
