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LHRD guide on juvenile justice and child in society

by Nadira Gunatileke

The Children's Desk of the Lawyers for Human Rights and Development (LHRD) has published a compendium containing three of the most important International documents that deal with juvenile justice.

i.e. the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules), the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty (The JDL Rule) and the UN Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (Riyadh Guidelines), Executive Director, LHRD, Kalyananda Tiranagama said.

He said that the three sets of rules can be seen as guidance for a three stage process; firstly, social policies to be applied to prevent and protect young people from offending (R.G), secondly, to establish a progressive justice system for young persons in conflict with the law (B.R) and finally, safeguarding fundamental rights and establishing measures for social integration of young people once deprived of their liberty, whether in prison or other institutions (JDL).

The guidelines and the rules of the Principles enunciated therein can be found encompassed in the CRC, treaty that is binding on Sri Lanka.

The proactive approach to juvenile delinquency in the documents could help move us beyond moral impact, if sufficient attention is paid to its contents that are more in line with the changing attitudes towards children and the perception that children are fully fledged participants in society, following the CRC process, he added.

The children's desk has prepared and where necessary simplified and added suitable comments in relation to the Sri Lanka situation and the existing law, material to these International instruments primarily to educate and apprise judicial officers of International standards on juvenile justice and the changing perception of the child in society. The material will be made available to judicial officers free of charge, but on payment to others. The publication is available in English, Sinhala and Tamil. This publication will helpful to policy makers and others in the child rights community interested in the subject of juvenile justice.

LHRD is a non-profit NGO of lawyers dedicated to the all round human development of the poor, asserting their right to development and the promotion and protection of human rights. LHRD was established in 1986 and its primary areas of activity are the provision of legal aid and assistance, legal awareness/training to the government and the NGO sector and studies on law and its impact on people to inform the legal reform process.

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