| Indicator ID | J1 |
|---|---|
| Indicator full statement | # of children and youth in contact with the law (suspects, offenders, victims, and witnesses) who gain access to at least one procedural safeguard in justice processes (right to legal aid, right to adapted information, right to a fair trial, etc.) |
Purpose
| Importance | This indicator aims to indicate how many children in contact with the justice system have had an improved experience by having their rights upheld (at least one of them – within the list of basic justice rights for children - see definitions below). Children have their rights respected and exercised when the child justice systems ensure procedural safeguards for children. This indicator is highly strategic in measuring the rights of children. It is new and should provide a learning process for measuring children’s access to justice rights. |
|---|---|
| ToC pathway |
|
| Related services | Catalogue of Services: Capacity development justice actors; awareness raising and information; case management. |
Definition
Child in contact with the law: A person below the age of 18 who comes into contact with the justice system as a result of being suspected or accused of committing an offense, or as a victim or witness in any judicial proceeding.
Child suspect or accused: A person below the age of 18 who is a suspect or accused person in criminal proceedings. Child suspects or accused may also be referred to as children in conflict with the law.
Child victim: A person below the age of 18 who has suffered harm as a consequence of an event that is potentially justiciable (i.e. subject to trial in a court of law).
Child witness: A person below the age of 18 who has witnessed an event deemed relevant in a justice process.
Procedural safeguards: the protections (e.g. policies in places, adequate staff, infrastructure, etc.) children are given during a justice process that allow them to exercise their justice rights. For the measurement of this indicator, the following children’s access to justice rights apply:
The right to be timely and adequately informed, which shall be strictly applied in all judicial stages, including the provision of language-appropriate information about outcomes, appeals, complaint mechanisms, and support services for children, youth, and their families.
The right to be heard directly and to express views at all stages of the proceedings meaning that a child should not be precluded from being heard solely based on his/her age. Duly reasoned judgments and court rulings are to be provided, particularly if the child’s views have not been followed.
The right to free assistance of an interpreter to make sure that the child has understood all the information required to fully exercise their rights.
The right to access (free) professional legal advice and representation, from specialized legal professionals.
The right to protection of private and family life, following strict rules of confidentiality, including legal protection of personal data.
The right to a speedy judicial process, linked with protections for children and the application of their best interest. Time has a different significance for children as at this stage crucial decisions must be taken about their lives. For this, there exist exceptional competencies granted to judges: provisional decisions, preliminary judgments, and immediate enforceable decisions.
How to collect & analyse the data
| What do we count? | Number of children in contact with the law who were granted at least one of their rights (i.e. the right was exercised) in a justice proceeding. |
|---|---|
| How to calculate the indicator's value | The sum of the number of children who have been granted justice rights. |
| Data sources | Project data and reports produced; survey results (including very specifically to be performed with children); national government statistics or human rights monitoring groups statistics (when the work of Tdh in country has been deemed significant to contribute to them). |
| Data collection methods and tools | This indicator is to be collected at the national level. Please, disaggregate at least by gender and age, as well as the category of children (suspect, accused, victim, witness) and type of right (from the list above) granted. |
| Disaggregation | Gender and age group. |
Limitations and precautions
This indicator should not be confused with the number of children in contact with the law that Tdh and/or partners work with. However, it needs to be focused on measuring the level of exercise of rights that children have when they are exposed to justice proceedings.
Be aware that children’s access to justice rights are interdependent (e.g. access to specialized and timely legal aid would enhance the chances of being properly informed). This understanding is very relevant for the analysis even though the indicator is quantifying separately those rights to include children within the number.
If satisfaction surveys with children justice users are used to quantify this indicator, it is advisable that questions around the quality of those rights (e.g. if the legal aid and/or interpretation services provided were satisfactory and by someone specialized, if the right to be heard and to express opinions was consistently provided in different moments of the justice process and not only at the end of the proceedings).
Check the reliability and completeness of national statistics (e.g. triangulation with other sources) and indicate when there might be some issues.
What further analysis are we interested in?
What are the procedural safeguards more developed in comparison to others, (i.e. ranking of children’s access to justice rights that are more exercisable by children? - comparative analysis)
What are the persistent rights gaps that children in contact with the law are experiencing?
Are there any differences regarding children with more or fewer chances to be granted procedural safeguards (i.e. children with different intersectional factors/identities- including, age, gender, geographical location, disability, etc.)? – requires disaggregation.
It is important to consider the diversity of activities that Tdh and/or Tdh partners do that are interdependent and contribute to the achievement of children’s rights in the justice system (advocacy, direct services e.g. legal aid, capacity development to justice actors and children who are justice users, technical assistance). Include some explanations for the analysis.