Children in conflict with the law: Rights, research and progressive youth justice By U. Kilkelly, L. Forde, S. Lambert, K. Swirak, London: Palgrave Macmillan. 2023. pp. 185. £34.99 (hbk). ISBN: 9783031366512; £27.99 (ebk). ISBN: 9783031366529

Abstract

The book sets out its overall aim in the acknowledgements section, namely that the authors hope that it advances knowledge that ‘rights and research are key to advancing the progressive reform of youth justice internationally’ (p.vi). The authors are established experts in the field of international children's rights and set about to consider a range of progressive youth justice international research through the lens of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and its associated reports, comments and related treaties. The authors acknowledge that the international standards offer a wealth of detail to ‘respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children in conflict with the law’ (p.1), while at the same time a wealth of knowledge has been developed from research about this group of children, and their pathways into, through, and out of, justice systems. However, an important gap is identified which is the study of how these two bodies of knowledge overlap and relate to one another. This book seeks to begin to plug this gap by ‘bring[ing] together the best research on children in conflict with the law, mapping it against international children's rights standards’ (p.1).

I found the book to be extremely helpful in, first, highlighting how research advances the case for youth justice systems and reform to be firmly rooted in the international rights frameworks. However, I found that the book also sought to make the case that youth justice researchers should be seeking to ground and position their own research within the children's rights framework much more widely than is currently the case. I found, as a youth justice researcher, the argument to be incredibly persuasive and will use the book as a reference tool when both designing future research and also teaching my students.

Once the context and aims of the book are established, Chapter 2 then very helpfully and succinctly summarises the numerous standards and instruments related to children in the justice system, and outlines key features of a rights-based framework. I found this chapter to be extremely useful as the rights-based literature and landscape can often be complex and difficult to navigate. It first runs through some of the key principles of the UNCRC and then considers how they can be applied to children in trouble with the law. The chapter concludes by introducing the remaining structure of the book – namely, how a rights-based framework can be implemented at different stages of the justice system: prevention (Chapter 3); diversion and justice (Chapter 4); and reintegration (Chapter 5).

Chapter 3 considers child development and their experiences prior to entering criminal justice systems. An exploration of the universal rights that all children should enjoy in early childhood sets the scene for considering how some children are denied these rights, and this sets them on a pathway into criminalisation. The authors specifically focus on over-represented groups including boys, children from ethnic minorities, children with care experience and children with disabilities, to demonstrate that justice systems are at odds with the general principle in the UNCRC of enjoying prevention from contact with the justice system without discrimination.

The remaining chapters consider stages of justice systems from diversion (including prevention and early intervention), police investigation, court processes, through to reintegration following sentence. Every stage is broken down into useful and manageable chunks, consistently framing youth justice research within international children's rights. For example, the discussion surrounding a child's right to effective participation within court processes was starkly contrasted with research demonstrating that children do not enjoy this right and experience procedural injustice within court settings.

The final concluding chapter succinctly summarises the findings in preceding chapters, namely the exploration of the relationship between children's rights standards and youth justice research. The book certainly makes the case that there are very strong links between children in trouble with the law and the range of protections set out in the UNCRC and related international standards. I am grateful to the authors for comprehensively and concisely making a strong case for further exploration of the synergies between youth justice research and children's rights. I would recommend this book as an introductory text to this important, yet often neglected, area of literature, and look forward to follow-up pieces to unpick in further detail many of the highlighted areas of discussion.