Course requirements
Master degree.
Course information
This course offers a children’s rights perspective on children in the justice system, which includes children (allegedly) in conflict with the law as well as children who come into contact with the justice system as victims and/or witnesses. Since the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), child justice has been recognized as a human rights issue and as a consequence the position of children in conflict/contact with the law has gained significant attention. This has resulted in various developments including:
Additional standard setting at the international and regional levels;
Many initiatives of domestic law reform throughout the world; and
The development of child-specific case law, at the regional and national level (including in the United States which has not ratified the CRC), on the imposition of sentences, the use of coercive measures, such as pre-trial detention, and legal safeguards, e.g. the right to legal counsel during police interrogations.
In addition, there has been increased attention for the right to participate effectively in child justice proceedings as part of the child’s right to a fair trial. This resulted, among others, in the emergence of the concept of child-friendly justice (in Europe and elsewhere), which revolves around children’s right to participate effectively in justice proceedings, including criminal justice proceedings. In 2019, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted a new General Comment on children’s rights in the child justice system (No. 24), replacing its previous General Comment on the matter (No. 10, 2007). All these developments have a broader impact on children in the justice system, including child victims and witnesses.
Course objectives
This course aims to provide in depth knowledge of and insight into the implications of international, regional and domestic legal standards with regard to the position of children in contact with the justice system, including children in conflict with the law as well as child victims and witnesses. In addition, it offers insight into the most significant controversies in the area of (child) justice as well as in recent key developments at the global and regional levels aiming at the strengthening of the legal status of children subject to (child) justice proceedings, including children deprived of their liberty, and how this impacts the position of children in the justice system.
Students gain thorough knowledge and understanding of the main features of international (United Nations) and regional child justice standards and standards concerning child victims and witnesses, including the ways in which the different standards co-exist, overlap and may influence each other;
Students gain thorough knowledge and understanding of the key issues concerning the administration of child justice, including the key objectives of child justice, procedural rights and safeguards and disposition of juvenile justice cases (diversion, non-custodial sentences and deprivation of liberty, see also below);
Students gain thorough knowledge and understanding of the most significant controversies in the administration of child justice, including the roles of key stakeholders and age limits;
Students gain thorough knowledge and understanding of the issue of deprivation of liberty, both with regard to the requirements for the use of deprivation of liberty and the legal status of children deprived of their liberty, including protection against violence;
Students gain thorough knowledge and understanding of the position of child victims and witnesses, from a children’s rights perspective, and also in relation to the position of the fair trial rights of the accused;
Students gain research and academic writing skills and learn how to critically reflect on the acquired knowledge and understanding of children’s rights in the context of children in the justice system in an academic paper;
Students apply all the knowledge they have learned and gathered, on children’s rights in the justice system, to their own legal context (where they have lived or have experience working in) in the final academic paper allowing them to reflect on how what they learned in class can be translated into their own systems.
Mode of instruction
6 weeks of lectures and seminars with a duration of (max. 3 hours each) with the exception of the introduction class and the presentations class which will last (max. 4 hours each).
Examination method
- Written individual academic paper (max. 4.000 – 4.500 words), which counts for 100 % of the final grade.
Submission of written assignments via Brightspace.
Students will have to write an academic paper for this course. A paper trajectory will be part of the course, which includes a short oral presentation, oral and written feedback, and a journal documenting the paper’s development and how the feedback provided helped students to further develop their work.
Final grade and re-take information:
The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average of all the course components. Students have access to a re-take if the grade point average of all the course components is below 6 (fail). It will be up to the discretion of the relevant lecturer/examiner to decide on the form of the retake. The retake may consist of a written retake exam, oral retake exam or any other kind of assessment that is deemed appropriate.
Course materials
A list of all study materials will be published on Brightspace. Unless otherwise indicated, all study materials are available via the online catalogue of the Leiden Law Library. Where possible, all required and recommended reading materials will be made available through Brightspace.
Contact
Coordinator of the course:
Ms. Lucy Ataro Opoka, LLM
Telephone number: 0031-71-527 6438
Email address: l.a.opoka@law.leidenuniv.nl
Programme Officer:
Ms. Esther Uiterweerd
Telephone number: 0031-71 527 4644
Email address: childrensrights@law.leidenuniv.nl
Disclaimer:
Currently these pages are being updated to reflect the courses for 2024 - 2025. Until these pages are fixed as per 1 September 2024 no rights can be claimed from the information which is currently contained within.
Should there be any future extenuating circumstances which may impinge our teaching and assessment, these could necessitate modification of the course descriptions after 1 September. This will only happen in the event of strict necessity and the interests of the students will be taken into account. Should there be a need for any change during the course, this will be informed to all students on a timely basis. Modifications after 1 September 2024 may only be done with the approval and consent of the Faculty Board and Programme Director.