Children and young people in conflict with the law: policy, practice and legislation - Children and Young People's Centre for Justice

Practice Guide 2026

Whether you are a practitioner, researcher or educator, you should be familiar with the latest policy and practice legislation in youth justice.

To assist with this, the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) produces an annual practice guide, called ‘Children and young people in conflict with the law: policy, practice and legislation’. This guide is aimed at practitioners and managers who work with children and young people who are at risk of, or come into conflict with, the law.

It is also valuable for academics, policymakers, educators, students and anyone else with an interest in youth and criminal justice. Nineteen sections cover a wide variety of themes including: Children’s Rights; Risk Management; Mental Health; Diversity; Restorative Justice; Adversity and Trauma; and Diversion from Prosecution.

The guide is renewed every year to ensure the information we are providing is relevant, meaningful and accurate and our latest version was published on June 15, 2026. We have updated every section, and have included two new sections for 2026: Section 18: Brain Development and Neurodiversity and Section 19: Children in conflict with the law and Data.

Please get in touch at cycj@strath.ac.uk if you have any queries.

Section 1: Background, Policy and Legislation

Section 2: Youth Justice in Scotland – The Roles and Responsibilities of Key Partners

Section 3: Child and Human Rights, Our Responsibilities

Section 4: Participation

Section 5: Trauma and Adversity

Section 6: Speech, Language and Communication Needs in Youth Justice

Section 7: Diversity

Section 8: Mental Health

Section 9: Approaches to Working with Children

Section 10: Early and Effective Intervention

Section 11: Diversion from Prosecution