The participation of juvenile defendants in the youth court. A comparative study of juvenile justice procedures in Europe

This study revolves around the issue of the participation of juvenile defendants in the youth court. The European Court of Human Rights has put forward the notion that defendants should be able to participate effectively in a court hearing. Moreover, in international children’s rights law it is stipulated that minors who are in conflict with the law should be handled by specialised youth courts and trained professionals. These two notions are combined in this study. The first aim of this study was to formulate requirements for the effective participation of juvenile defendants in the youth court. The second aim was to study the actual participation of juvenile defendants in practice. Juvenile defendants’ right to be heard and the fact that juveniles have a limited understanding of the juvenile justice process are taken as starting points to formulate directives in order for young persons to be able to participate effectively in the youth court. To enable juveniles to participate in the youth court the judge and other professionals in court should fulfil certain tasks. These tasks refer to hearing juvenile defendants and contributing to their understanding of the procedures and decision-making in court. Between 2000 and 2012, the cases of in total 3,019 juvenile defendants were observed in youth courts and other competent administrative bodies in the juvenile justice systems in 11 European countries, namely in Belgium, England and Wales, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland. From the empirical findings of this study it can be concluded that the requirements for hearing juvenile defendants are best met in the Scottish children’s hearings system and in the juvenile justice system in Switzerland. In these countries hearing juveniles, giving a serious reaction to their views and hearing parents is done extensively. On the other side of the coin, in the youth courts in England and Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Spain hearing juveniles and giving a serious reaction occurs to a limited extent. Hearing the views of parents takes only more extensively place at the Scottish children’s hearings, in Switzerland and in the Netherlands. The requirements for contributing to the understanding of juvenile defendants are best met in the Scottish children’s hearings system and in the juvenile justice system in Switzerland as well. Giving explanations, avoiding judicial jargon and clarifying the judgment take place extensively in these countries. In general, addressing the consequences of the offence nowhere takes place extensively. Overall, it can be concluded that structural differences between systems, such as the legal tradition or the setting in which hearings take place, have an important influence on the participation of juvenile defendants. First, it can be concluded that a more intimate and informal setting contributes to making the hearing more accessible for the young person and his parents. Second, the fulfilment of the requirements is not possible in the adversarial youth courts in Europe. It can be concluded that individual countries, in which the adversarial legal tradition is dominant, should seriously invest in improving the juvenile justice practice