The Juvenile Justice System

In Northern Ireland the law of juveniles is different from Ireland and England. Following the 1998 the Good Friday Agreement, an independent review of the criminal justice system was created. This Criminal Justice Review changed the way juveniles were looked at. It created a shift towards the increased use of restorative justice, juveniles within the youth justice system, and also created the incorporation of human rights standards within legislation. After the Criminal Justice Review, more changes were required, these came in the form of the Justice Act (NI) 2002 and 2004. How/what was the juvenile system before the system was changed.

The main aim of the youth justice system is protection of the public by preventing children from offending.

A young person is a person over the age of fourteen but under the age of eighteen. The juvenile justice system covers both children and young persons. The adult justice system is more server in punishment than the juvenile justice system. The adult justice system punishes most offenders by incarnation. This takes away many of their rights for example there right of freedom and liberty. As a prisoner you do have some human rights for example right to a safe shelter, right to food and water. This form of punishment is damaging to the offender as it can cause psychological problems. In some cases it can be a form of mental torture to offenders, if they are claustrophobic. There are other effects imprisonment has on an offender, for example mental illness, suicidal, isolation, the fear of being attacked or preyed upon, also the low self-worth one has. This is the more formal aspect of the criminal justice system. The juvenile justice system has the same effects of incarnation on young person as the adult system. Incarnation damages an adult, it is for this reason that the juvenile justice system try to avoid placing youth criminals into the young

Also the Youth Justice Agency Northern Ireland, it aims are to prevent children offending. The PSNI have been given discretionary disposal for low or first time offence. Diversionary conferences gives offenders a chance to discuss with the victim and anyone else affected by the crime. There are other forms of punishment, the police can give out warnings to a young person. This is in the presents of their parents and the police must keep records of their warning encase the young person comes to the attention of the police again. There last resort is sending the young person to prosecution through the courts. This is for more serious crimes and is usually an offender who has had