Children’s Court ‘failing many young people’

A NEW system to deal with young offenders is urgently needed, according to one of Ireland’s leading experts in juvenile justice.

The common practice of their solicitors taking instructions moments before a case is “totally unacceptable”, says Dr Ursula Kilkelly , a member of the Law Faculty of UCC and an expert in juvenile justice.

According to Dr Kilkelly, the Children’s Court system is failing many young people and causing them to enter an endless cycle of offending.

“The Children’s Court exists in name only,” said Dr Kilkelly yesterday, commenting on the results of a nationwide survey on the court’s operations which has found a significant increase in detention rates in recent years.

A study of almost 1,000 cases in Children’s Courts in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford, shows detention is often used as a measure of first resort.

Dr Kilkelly’s report found a significant rise in detention rates in recent years from 10% to over 20%.

“It is essential that we train judges, solicitors and gardaí so that they know how to deal with young people,” said Dr Kilkelly.

She said there was an acceptance that young offenders grew up to become adult criminals, but this was not necessarily the case.

She also advocated a specialised garda unit dealing with young offenders and pointed to marginalisation of children in the courtroom as the single biggest problem.