while Todays youth Justice survey demonstrates bankruptcy of current government policies a recent Parliamentary question reveals government incompetence and ignorance. 

The report published today by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) at King’s College London said most youth justice targets had been missed despite a “substantial” increase in spending.

Stephen jakobi, convener of the “children aren’t criminals.”  (CAC) campaign added.

” Not least of the problems is a policy that is “tough on crime, tough on the symptoms  of crime.” and the  consequent failure by concentration on the criminal justice system to deliver measurable impact on problematic and disruptive behaviour by very young children.

Behind the scenes, joined up government is so ineffective that the criminal justice system has been unable to marry up the  ASBO System, administered by ordinary magistrates courts, with a youth justice system pursued through juvenile courts.

Symptomatic of this is that in answer to a recent PQ by Susan Kramer MP concerning the number of young children under 14  imprisoned through the mechanism of the ASBO system the reply given by government was that it had no idea since statistics were not recorded centrally.

This amounts to an admission by government that it has no clear idea of the reasons why  very young children are imprisoned: a horrific and disgraceful situation.  

The background bodes ill for the fate of their “Youth Crime Action Plan” promised for this summer.  No doubt 10-year-olds will continue to be lumped in with 17-year-olds as “youth” and continue to be dealt with under essentially adult criminal codes in an adult criminal justice system.  No doubt the dual control of education and Justice established by the Brown administration will continue.

It is quite clear that the under 14s should be taken out of a failed system targeting  older teenagers.”

We demand a Royal commission to look at the whole problem of the younger age range currently thrown in with older children within the youth justice system.  10 to 13-year-olds should be taken out of the criminal justice system entirely”

 Stephen Jakobi to  speak at Trier Conference on   Pre-trial detention, enforcement and supervision of sentences.

Stephen Jakobi, originator of the Eurobail concept for cross-border provisional liberty as an alternative to pre-trial detention, will be speaking and chairing a session at a conference to be held in May, sponsored by the European Academy of Law in Trier Germany.

For further details http://www.era.int/web/en/html/nodes_main/4_2127_474/conferences_0000_Date/5_1796_5543.htm

Visitors to this website will be familiar with the case of Jeremiah Duggan.
Please SIGN the  JUSTICE FOR JEREMIAH PETITION
It will be PRESENTED to the Prime Minister Mr.  GORDON BROWN ON 3rd April 2008 together with a letter appealing for his intervention on behalf of the campaign. You can reach the Petition web site either
Direct via  http://www.petitionthem.com/?sect=detail&pet=4181
or via the Justice for Jeremiah Web site at   http://justiceforjeremiah.com

The campaign group “children aren’t criminals”, issued a statement today, following the announcement by  Ed Balls, the education minister of a Baby Asbo scheme.  “That will inevitably demonise and scapegoat very young children.”

Stephen Jakobi, convener of the umbrella group said “It would appear that the scheme will target up to a thousand children as young as 10 by methods that will inevitably raise the numbers of very young children in custody for non violent offences when we already have the worst record in Europe.

In 1992 only 100 children under I5 were sentenced to penal custody and  sentences were all awarded under the ‘grave crimes’ provision (Section 53 of the 1933 Children and Young Persons Act) for children who had committed serious offences such as robbery or violent offences. In 2005 - 2006, 824 children under 15 were incarcerated but only 48 of these came into the same grave crimes sentencing framework. How many more will be incarcerated under the new Scheme ?.

Ladling out good behaviour contracts on complaints from teachers and neighbours and targeting the very young children, as opposed to their backgrounds, in attempting to prevent a life of crime is doomed to failure.

A disturbed and troubled child causing disruption of this sort has almost inevitably background problems that children of this age cannot possibly handle

In 2005 the British Institute for Brain Injured Children made a national ASBO survey. Youth Offending Teams confirmed that 37% of ASBOs go to mentally impaired youngsters.Problems included : clinical depression, autism, psychosis, suicidal tendencies,personality disorders learning disabilites and ADHD.  Even more remarkable according to the government’s own evaluation reports ( e.g. Housing Research Summary No. 230 ; DfCLG) in the ‘ASB Intensive Family Support’ (Sin Bin) projects introduced to supplement ASBOs,80% of the families targeted had serious mental health and learning disability problems.60% were recognised as victims of ASB.Project managers described many families as ‘easily scapegoated’ in neighbour disputes..

Intensive work with the children concerned is good, but can be only part of the story.  What is going to happen to the children’s problems created by others that give rise to the behaviour?

The government is fully aware that any young child inducted into the criminal justice system is probably destined to become an adult professional criminal.

What in fact, we are witnessing is a piece of “ad hocery” continuing  the government recklessness in demonising and criminalising the very young.”

,

From the Guardian Tuesday December 18, 2007

Any article that begins “Britain is in danger of becoming a nation of paedophobics” must be highly commended; but in fact it has missed the bus (Thinktank calls for use of asbos to be reviewed, December 10). We became the worst demonisers of children in Europe many years ago.
Your summary of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) report on the “asbo culture”, which says that asbos “can be a self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to offending, and suggest their use should be reviewed. Children under 12 should not be given asbos.”

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It is also significant that asbo court orders were introduced by Tony Blair, whose government continued and expanded on the thinking of Tory home secretary Michael Howard in regard to the criminal prosecution of the very young.
In 1992 only 100 children under 15 were sentenced to penal custody, and sentences for children who had committed serious offences, such as robbery or violence, were all awarded under the “grave crimes” provision of the 1933 Children and Young Persons Act. In 2005-06, 824 children under 15 were incarcerated, although only 48 of these came into the same grave crimes framework.
Our organisation would join with the IPPR in deploring any use of the courts, whether criminal or civil, for very young children. Indeed, many of the report’s recommendations for alternatives (staffed adventured playgrounds, more social workers, behavioural psychologists and family welfare officers attached to schools) might well be incorporated into a holistic approach to the problems of children in trouble.
We would, however, in the interests of a common approach, suggest that the IPPR modify its demands to include all children under 14. This would have the merit of bringing us into line with most of Europe.
Your article ended with a direct quote from Carey Oppenheim, the IPPR co-director. “The problem with ‘kids these days’ is the way adults are treating them. A nation fearful of its young people: a nation of paedophobics. We need policy, which reminds adults that it is their responsibility to set norms of behaviour and to maintain them from positive and authoritative interaction with young people.” And so say all of us.
It is against this background that we were hoping, as part of the 10-year plan for children announced last week by Ed Balls in the House of Commons, for a strategic review of asbos and of the criminal justice system as applied to the very young.
Notably, there was much argument over educational standards between government and official opposition, citing international comparisons and league tables. No one mentioned that we are bottom of the European league tables for both age of criminal responsibility and number of young children in custody.
It is a scandal that the last time the age of criminal responsibility was fully reviewed was in the 1960s. There can be few social problems of such importance that have been neglected for more than 40 years.