ADR in criminal proceedings - Part 2/2

Alternative dispute resolution in criminal proceedings: Part 2/2

by: Veronika Válová

“We are willing to spend the least amount of money to keep a kid at home, more to put him in a foster home and the most to institutionalize him.” Marian Wright Edelman

The first part of the Alternative dispute resolution in criminal proceedings was dedicated to types of mechanisms used through the process such as mediation or negotiations via plea bargain. As mentioned in a previous blog post, there are many challenges within the criminal system and the use of ADR is an effective tool. When we talk about criminal justice, we mostly talk about adults, however there are many minor offenders too, which brings me to the topic of today – the ADR approach to Juvenile Justice.

Children and youth under the age of eighteen who encounter law enforcement are subjected to the juvenile system. Courts dealing with youth, who are accused of breaking the law, were established to help young people with delinquent behaviour. The criminal system for adults is based on punishment for offences committed; however, the juvenile system is more of a correction process consisting of rehabilitation programs aiming at avoiding future problems in adulthood.

According to the Youth Justice Statistics (YJS) in the  UK 58,939 children were arrested between 2019 and 2020. Children who proceed before the court hit 24,578 and 7,224 children are given cautions by the police. The average monthly population in youth custody reaches 781 and the average custodial sentence length is 18.6 months.[1]

During a single year, around 2.1 million youth under the age of 18 are arrested in the United States as the most recent data shows. Over the past years, rates dropped, however still approximately 1.7 million offences and delinquency cases are brought before juvenile courts every year.[2]

The juvenile justice system consists of stages such as the following ones: delinquent behaviour, referral, intake/diversion, transfer/waiver, detention, adjudication, disposition, juvenile corrections and aftercare. There is a distinction between delinquent offences consisting of violations of the criminal code and status offences such as running away from home, consuming alcohol or skipping school.Practise shows that youth need different treatment and facilities in case of detention than adults. In both cases, whether the youth is accused of delinquent offence or status offence, ADR is widely used.

Alternative dispute resolution strategies like mediation help families to resolve the issue outside of court and lead to a better outcome. Evidence indicates that cases formally processed in juvenile courts have a worse outcome then the ones handled informally[3]. The use of ADR increases within the juvenile proceedings by creating juvenile mediation programmes, family conferencing, where agencies help families to handle the situation within the family or negotiations regarding plea bargain and transfer from adult to a juvenile facility in worst cases.

Alternative dispute resolution techniques are the better and less invasive method to deal with offences committed by minors. There are many advantages of this practice especially the prevention of violence and maltreatment reported in juvenile facilities. It should be a priority to act in the best interest of the child for all countries and ADR helps to hold the purpose of the establishment of the juvenile justice system, which is rehabilitation and correction not punishment.

[1]YJS 2019/20. Youth Justice Board, Ministry of Justice ( 28 January 2021), <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/956621/youth-justice-statistics-2019-2020.pdf>

[2]Hockenberry, S., & Puzzanchera, C. (2020). Juvenile court statistics 2018. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice. Retrieved from <https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh176/files/media/document/juvenile-court-statistics-2018.pdf>

[3]WhatisJuvenile Justice? Annie E. CaseyFoundation (2020), <https://www.aecf.org/blog/what-is-juvenile-justice/>