A Symposium to mark the publication of the Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice’s ‘Rights Respecting? Scotland’s approach to children in conflict with the law’ report took place at the University of Strathclyde on January 31, 2020.
CYCJ’s director and report author Claire Lightowler was joined by a panel of leading youth justice professionals who shared their thoughts on Claire’s report, from the perspective of their respective sectors:
- Professor Manfred Nowak, Human Rights Lawyer and Lead for the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty
- Bruce Adamson, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland
- Professor Jennifer Davidson, Executive Director of the Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures
- DCC Malcom Graham, Deputy Chief Constable Crime and Operational Support, Police Scotland
- Tom McNamara, Unit Head for Youth Justice and Children’s Hearings, Scottish Government
- Lynne McNiven, Interim Director of Public Health, NHS Ayrshire & Arran
Professor Kathleen Marshall, former Children’s Commissioner and Chair of the Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures, acted as Symposium Chair.
This note summarises what was discussed, key themes covered and the challenges, learning points and next steps that need to be taken to bring about future-proof and lasting change to how we do youth justice in Scotland. We hope that you will find this to be a useful and inspiring read.