Child-friendly justice: past, present and future

This chapter examines the concept of child-friendly justice by means of an analysis of the drafting, content and implementation of the Guidelines on Child-Friendly Justice. It draws attention to the important concept of child-friendly justice, which embraces the children's rights in the juvenile justice system. The chapter traces history of child-friendly justice, explains the Guidelines adopted in 2010, and examines the implementation of the Guidelines with reference to EU studies that have sought to evaluate the extent to which child-friendly justice is observed in practice. It assesses critically the future direction of children's rights within juvenile justice and identifies some of the challenges that lie ahead. A number of key themes emerged from the analysis of the consultation with children and young people including a strong emphasis on the importance of family, a general mistrust of authority and a consistently expressed desire to be heard.Criminal Justice: Legitimacy, accountability, and effectivit