Children face jail under anti-social rules

CHILDREN as young as 10 are likely to end up in custody for non-criminal acts if new powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour are introduced, the Irish Youth Justice Alliance (IYJA) has warned.

The introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) under the Criminal Justice Bill breaches human rights law and will result in the detention of young people for hanging around public places drinking, using offensive language or behaving in an intimidating manner, said the IYJA.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell has signalled his intention to provide ASBOs later this year by way of an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill.

“We recognise anti-social behaviour is a serious problem, but we don’t think this is a serious solution - it’s a quick fix when other attempts to tackle the problem haven’t been fully exhausted,” said IYJA spokeswoman Maria Corbett.

ASBOs were first introduced in legislation in England and Wales in 1999 and have since been introduced in Scotland and the North.

ASBOs allow the gardaí and local authorities to summon anyone over 10 before the civil courts for participating in behaviour deemed to be anti-social. In Britain, if a person breaches the order it becomes a criminal offence, which can lead to a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment. “Overwhelming evidence from the UK is that children are the usual focus of these orders,” said Ms Corbett.

In the first year of introduction in Britain, just 104 orders were made, but more than 2,600 orders were made between November 2003 and February 2005.

“ASBOs are breached by one-third of young people in England and half of these juveniles have been placed in custody,” said Dr Ursula Kilkelly, senior law lecturer at University College Cork. “It’s effectively a carte blanche for the courts and people see it as a solution, when it does not tackle the root causes of the problems; it simply moves them on elsewhere.”

The IYJA says ASBOs run contrary to the “positive sanctions” in the Children’s Act 2001 to tackle anti-social behaviour.

“If anti-social behaviour is criminal it should be dealt with under the Children’s Act. You can’t deal with children’s offending behaviour in the same way as adults - children are vulnerable and the majority grow out of this behaviour.”

The concerns of the IYJA, which include the Children’s Rights Alliance; the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the Irish Penal Reform Trust, will be debated in the Dáil as part of the second reading of the Criminal Justice Bill.

MONDAY: Senior law lecturer Dr Ursula Kilkelly looks at where the Criminal Justice Bill clashes with the Children’s Act.