The Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) has responded to the Scottish Government’s Consultation on Bail and Release from Custody Arrangements in Scotland.
CYCJ welcomes this consultation as an opportunity for change to and alignment with the pending incorporation of UNCRC (United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child) into Scots Law, as well as the aims of The Promise to ensure a child-friendly justice system that upholds children’s rights throughout all aspects of its processes and application. It is important to acknowledge the specific protections afforded children under the UNCRC and consider how they can be better supported and responded to, as well as promoting their inclusion and participation in the justice system.
Children’s need and rights within the justice system are often overlooked and systems/processes are not designed or adapted to meet their needs. To meet The Promise and ensure that children understand and can participate in justice processes, we welcome this consultation and the specific questions relating to children and young people.
We would like to highlight that it would have been helpful to have accessible documents that would promote the gathering of views particularly of children, young people and young adults who have experience of bail and release, to provide a rich contribution to the consultative process. Subsequently, this may have limited the opportunity for contribution from these individuals/group.