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Diversion and Detention Alternatives In Thailand’s Juvenile Justice System

Diversion and Detention Alternatives In Thailand’s Juvenile Justice System Professor Diane Geraghty Loyola University Chicago Civitas ChildLaw Center September 2006. Global Facts on Juvenile Justice. 80 percent of children will only commit one offence in their lifetime.

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Diversion and Detention Alternatives In Thailand’s Juvenile Justice System

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  1. Diversion and Detention Alternatives In Thailand’s Juvenile Justice System Professor Diane Geraghty Loyola University Chicago Civitas ChildLaw Center September 2006

  2. Global Facts on Juvenile Justice • 80 percent of children will only commit one offence in their lifetime. • 90 percent of juveniles who come into contact with police are first-time offenders. • 80 percent of first-time offenders can be deterred from committing further offences. • 50 to 70 percent of crimes are committed by 5 to 10 percent of the population. • Source: UNICEF: Justice for Children: Detention as a Last Resort: Innovative Initiatives in East Asia and Pacific Region

  3. Implications for a Model Juvenile Justice System • Children in conflict with the law should be held accountable for their actions. • The level of state intervention should be proportional to the need. • For the overwhelming majority of youth, a system’s resources should be spent on building child competencies to prevent future offending at the community level. • A system’s most intensive resources should be preserved for those youth who pose the greatest threat. • Deprivation of liberty should be an option only when absolutely necessary, and never as a “default” when other systems are not in place or are not effective.

  4. Two Strategies forAchieving Goals • Diversion = keeping or removing a child away from the formal juvenile justice system through alternative restorative justice procedures and programs. • Alternatives to Detention = finding ways to avoid placement of a child in any setting in which he or she cannot leave at will.

  5. UN Convention on Rights of the Child • Art. 37 – Detention “shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.” • Art. 40 – State Parties are encouraged to divert children from the formal justice system • Other international standards: Beijing, Riyad, UN Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures

  6. Post-trial Pre-Trial Diversion-- Court Pre-Trial Diversion -- Police and Prosecution Community-Based Informal Processing Theory of Diversion Divert as many children as possible as early as possible.

  7. Theory of Detention Create a continuum of pre-trial and post-trial alternatives to detention • Release to parents • Bail/surety • Community placement • Evening Reporting Centers • Electronic monitoring • Supervision • Probation • Suspended sentencing

  8. Police Diversion Release Warning Fine Police Community-Based Diversion Drug Rehabilitation Act Diversion 24 Hours Juvenile Observation and Protection Centre Pretrial release decision Pre-hearing Investigation Physical and Psychological Evaluation Observation Report Court Report to Prosecutor Multidisciplinary Sub-Committee Detention Temporary Release Bail Society? Court of Review of Detention In-Patient Treatment Community-Based Treatment Child-Friendly Interrogation Released Detention Upheld Family and Community Group Conferencing (FCGC) Pre-Trial Court Diversion Juvenile and Family Court Non-Prosecution Order Non-Custodial Measures Warning Parents, Others Probation Fine Trial Post-Trial Suspension Diversion Decision Deprivation of Liberty Training School Prison Alternative to Detention Acquittal In-Patient Treatment Reintegration into Family and Community Secure Confinement

  9. 10 Key Suggestions:Suggestion 1 • Provide a formal basis in law for Thailand’s existing and future diversion and alternatives to detention initiatives using an international child rights framework, e.g. • FCGC • New Paradigm

  10. Suggestion 2 • Expand community-based mechanisms for responding to youthful offending as an alternative to formal processing. • Strengthen existing informal community-based traditions • Study and consider adapting existing models for more formalized community decision-making (e.g. Phillippines, South Africa) • Introduce restorative justice in schools (e.g. peer juries).

  11. Suggestion 3 • Expand the use of FCGC • Consider making FCGC available to a broader set of youth (e.g. those who are not first-time offenders or who are charged with more serious offenses). • Expand use of FCGC and similar restorative justice practices to other settings.

  12. Suggestion 4 • Examine ways to eliminate the need for all children to be taken to JOPC and, at a minimum, ensure prompt judicial review in the case of any child detained pending trial. • Consider development of a summons process in lieu of transportation to JOPC. • Consider community-based options for children without community/family supports.

  13. Suggestion 5 • Raise of age of criminal responsibility. • Enhance penalties for adults who use children in their criminal activities.

  14. Suggestion 6 • Strengthen and formalize options for police and public prosecutors to divert cases from the formal justice system. • Provide formal authority to police to resolve disputes/ divert cases for community-based processing. • Provide broader authority to public prosecutors to divert cases for dispute resolution.

  15. Suggestion 7 • Examine and strengthen the role of the legal adviser at all stages of the juvenile justice system. • Seek consensus on the meaning of effective advocacy for children in conflict with the law at all stages of the process. • Consider requiring specialised training for the privilege of being registered. • Promote children’s law as a respected legal specialisation.

  16. Suggestion 8 • Ensure that the justice system is not used as a default for responding to the needs of children more properly dealt with in other systems (child protection, mental health, education) • Provide for children dually- involved in the juvenile justice and child protection systems.

  17. Suggestion 9 • Promote rigorous design and evaluation of all diversion initiatives, including drug diversion and the New Paradigm, to ensure effectiveness and ongoing support. • Promote the use of evidence-based practices. • Ensure appropriate “due process” safeguards. • Provide for ongoing data collection and analysis.

  18. Suggestion 10 • Promote greater planning, coordination, collaboration and data collection among juvenile justice stakeholders. • Hold annual cross-system summits such as this one. • Create a “Table of 5” made up of heads of juvenile justice sector for ongoing dialogue and problem solving.

  19. The goal: All moving in the same direction to support children

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