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Over-policing of Aboriginal children in Australia: A system that criminalises Aboriginal children

One of the themes of this year’s World Congress on Justice With Children is systemic racism and the disproportionate criminalisation of Indigenous children. The UN Global study on children deprived of liberty stated that young indigenous people are over-represented in many justice systems, a trend which has increased over recent years. In the sixth blog in our series for the World Congress on Justice with Children, Andreea Lachsz, Head of Policy, Communications and Strategy at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, outlines the situation in Australia and how they are working to address such discrimination. 

Andreea Lachsz22nd November 2021

Unearthing the facts about children facing the most severe penalties in Pakistan

Children in many countries continue to be sentenced to the death penalty and life imprisonment, often under outdated colonial laws and in violation of their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In the fifth blog of our series for the World Congress on Justice with Children, Sarmad Ali discusses research undertaken by Legal Awareness Watch (LAW) Pakistan to understand the situation of children in prison facing these most severe penalties.

Sarmad Ali11th November 2021

Abolishing life imprisonment for children: A battle that’s not won yet

Life imprisonment of children is on the decline. Since 2008, five countries have abolished life imprisonment as a criminal sentence for children entirely and in many countries where it remains, fewer children are serving these sentences. In the fourth blog of our series for the World Congress on Justice with Children, Leo Ratledge from Child Rights International Network (CRIN) looks at where this sentence still exists and the role that legal advocacy has played in the movement to abolish the practice.

Leo Ratledge8th November 2021

10 years on, “I have something to say”: Children with incarcerated parents raise their voices

Children with a parent in prison are forgotten victims of imprisonment whose rights and welfare are affected at every stage of their parent’s detention – yet they often remain invisible in criminal justice systems. In the third blog of our series for the World Congress on Justice with Children, 10 years after the Committee on the Rights of the Child held a Day of General Discussion and issued recommendations on children of incarcerated parents, Lía Fernández discusses efforts to raise the voices of children and adolescents with a parent or relative in prison in Latin America and the Caribbean – and what they have to say.

Lía Fernández4th November 2021

Ending corporal punishment of children in penal systems

Despite international bodies calling for the abolition of corporal punishment of children, in many states it is still lawfully used as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions and as a sentence for crime. In the second blog of our series for the World Congress on Justice with Children, Sonia Vohito, Legal Policy Specialist at the End Violence Partnership, outlines recent progresses and remaining challenges in achieving prohibition of corporal punishment of children.

Sonia Vohito1st November 2021

Ensuring access to justice for all: the 2021 World Congress on Justice with Children

Children in contact with the law face multi-dimensional violence, discrimination, rights violations, and structural barriers throughout their contact with justice systems. In the first blog of our series for the World Congress on Justice with Children, PRI’s Tríona Lenihan considers the key barriers to children’s equal access to justice and presents the upcoming Congress which focuses on non-discriminatory and inclusive child justice systems.

Tríona Lenihan27th October 2021

Ending capital punishment in the OSCE: who plays the most important role?

Although some progress has been made towards abolition of the death penalty, several countries – including some in the OSCE area – retain the death penalty for certain offences. In the third blog of our series examining trends identified in Global Prison Trends 2021, Jennifer Roberts from OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) outlines […]

Jennifer Roberts25th October 2021

The invisible of the invisible: foreign nationals in prison and probation during COVID-19

The number and proportion of foreign nationals in prison and serving probation varies greatly between regions and countries. In the second blog of our series examining trends identified in Global Prison Trends 2021, Petra Pavlas considers the particular impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign nationals in prison and probation as well as its impact on those released from prison during this time in Europe, where foreign nationals make up almost a quarter of national prison populations.

Petra Pavlas6th September 2021

Towards digitalisation of prisons: Finland’s Smart Prison Project

The past year has seen rapid advances in the use of technological solutions in prisons globally. In the first of our new blog series expanding on trends identified in Global Prison Trends 2021, Pia Puolakka, Project Manager of Finland’s Smart Prison Project, details the process and benefits of digitalisation of prisons and in-cell technology, and […]

Pia Puolakka6th July 2021