2018 Presentations (Communicative Events)

Defining the Age of Juvenile Justice Jurisdiction: Current Practices and the Need for Reform

Siringil Perker, Selen

Determining the appropriate age range for a juvenile justice system – specifically, the lowest age of jurisdiction and the upper age – has enormous implications for the outcomes of the youth served and for public safety. International standards set the lower age at 14 and the upper at 18 but, in practice, the chosen ages vary widely.

Our presentation at the 2018 World Congress on Justice for Children at the UNESCO House in Paris reviewed the differences between countries in the age ranges, with a focus on developing best practices to improve the justice system’s response to youth crime. We then highlighted recent and relevant research that should guide the policy decisions regarding these age ranges. We discussed the following questions: Are very young children being swept into the juvenile justice system? If so, what other agencies could more appropriately and effectively serve their needs? Are older youth included in the juvenile system or are they automatically prosecuted and sentenced as adults? What would happen if a jurisdiction recognized the developmental needs of older youth and included them in the juvenile justice system?