Raising the age of criminal responsibility

In a letter printed in the Times, Just for Kids Law has joined the voices of other charities and practitioners to ask for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised. Written by Dr Eileen Vizard the letter calls for raising the age limit substantially in line with most other countries and proposes a consultation process to explore how this can be achieved.

The letter reads:

"The Times

Letters to the Editor

7th July 2010

Children and court

The age of criminal responsibility should be raised substantially in line with most other countries.

Sir, We are concerned about the very low age of criminal responsibility, ten years old, for children in England and Wales. The assumption that a ten-year-old can face charges is widely discussed in terms of whether or not that child can “understand the difference between right and wrong”. The question is more complicated — most ten-year-olds can understand that difference. The test should go beyond this and should decide whether the defendant’s intellectual capacity is such that he could not effectively participate in the proceedings and accordingly have a fair trial.

We believe that the age of criminal responsibility should be raised substantially in line with most other countries and propose a consultation process, led by the Law Commission, to explore how this could be rectified."

Dr Eileen Vizard, Child and adolescent psychiatrist; Shauneen Lambe, Director, Just for Kids Law; Professor Dinesh Bhugra, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists; Professor Sarah – Jane Blakemore UCL, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience; Juliet Lyon, Director, Prison Reform Trust; Paul Mendelle, QC Chairman, Criminal Bar Association; Andrew Flanaghan, CEO, NSPCC; Lord Ramsbotham, House of Lords. Plus 26 other signatories listed at thetimes.co.uk/letters

Comment on the Edlington case

Commenting on the case of the boys in Edlington, Shauneen Lambe, Director of Just for Kids Law said:

"This case is, of course, shocking and distressing. The consequences of neglect and lack of proper support once again reaches far beyond the individuals involved. In this case, horrifically, the violence was passed on to other children. All too sadly, I am not surprised at all by the chaotic life that these boys lived. We see many children whose lives are desperate; blighted by poverty and neglect despite this being one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Much of the work we do involves litigation against authorities who we feel should provide more to the children in their area. It is only with proper and often costly investment from early stages that we can avoid tragic events like this."

[Press Release 22/01/10]

Charioke Marathon November 2009

Organised by Refugee Action,
Just for Kids Law joined in chorus with Children of the Andes and Food Chain to sing our way through 10 hours of karaoke classics. A huge thanks to Melissa Reardon, Rebecca Toennessen and Emma B who sang their hearts out for our Hardship Fund and raised close to £900.

Vacancy - Education and Community Care Lawyer

JfK are looking to recruit a education and community care lawyer as soon as possible.

The role: mainly to provide children and young people with direct representation and advice at first instance hearings, for example Independent Appeal Panels and SENDIST, as well as judicially reviewing cases, particularly in urgent s17/s20 Children Act 1989 disputes where Local Authorities are not appropriately supporting and accommodating vulnerable young people.

The main activities will include:
· providing legal advice and assistance to children and young people in relation to school admissions and exclusions, special educational needs and appeals to SENDIST;
· providing direct representation at relevant education hearings;
· providing legal advice and assistance to children and young people in the care system, including “looked after” children and those leaving care;
· taking cases and preparing and issuing judicial review challenges in the above fields;
· working with JfK’s Youth Advocate to meet the needs of its client group.
· Participating in the trainings organised by JfK Law.
· Attend relevant trainings in areas of Education or Community Care Law

The Person: The successful candidate will be a solicitor or have other equivalent legal qualifications and experience. We are a small but vibrant community based organisation looking for a hard-working, dedicated, computer literate, individual who is committed to advancing the rights of our client group. The Education and Community Care Lawyer will be under the direct supervision of the Directors of Just for Kids Law. Any job offer is subject to CRB approval.

Hours: We are preferably looking for someone to work full-time. Working hours may be outside typical office hours.

Office: Just For Kids Law is situated at 402 Harrow Rd. The closest underground stations are Westbourne Park (Hammersmith and City) and Warwick Avenue (Bakerloo). The majority of our clients are based locally.

Starting Salary: ₤28,500 per annum.

Application: CV’s and a covering letter to be sent to shauneenlambe@justforkidslaw.org

Closing Date: 6th November 2009.

Closure of Secure Children's Homes

JFK has grave concerns about the YJB decision to cut the number of secure children's home places from 219 to 191. Whilst custody is rarely a productive outcome for a young person caught up in the criminal justice system, SCH's provide the kind of care and provision that the YJB should be seeking to develop.

JFK has grave concerns that more young people will be placed in Young Offender Institutes or Secure Training Centre's. These places just aren't suitable for very young and vulnerable young people.

Mary O'Hara has written about the concerns of penal reformers in today's society Guardian.http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/may/20/secure-care-homes-closure

We are also concerned that young, vulnerable people will be placed far from the families and communities that are so important to ensuring they stay away from offending behaviour. In addition, under the Carter Legal Aid reforms, lawyers no longer get paid for their travel time to visit clients held in custody. JFK has concerns that as there will be no SCH provision in the London area that young people may in effect be denied access to their solicitors, as firms will be under financial strain to spend significant time travelling to visit their clients.

Hemini hits the headlines

Hemini's charity run has made it to the news! Clink the link to see the article and don't forget to sponsor her through www.justgiving.com/heminipatel

http://www.londoninformer.co.uk/london-news/london-local-news/2009/04/17/10-000kms-just-for-the-kids-113489-23407540

The 'Hardship' Run

Hemini Patel, a solicitor in the Youth Department is doing the BUPA 10K run on the 25th May for JFK! Any money raised will go to the JFK Hardship Fund.

The hardship fund allocates a maximum of £250 to our clients with an urgent financial need and who, without our assistance, have no legitimate means of getting the money.

Just this month the hardship fund has been used to buy groceries and toiletries for a 16 year old girl who we represent. Her borough refused to accept she was a child in need - even after she presented to them homeless having been diagnosed with hypothermia and malnutrition. Through our intervention the borough have accepted their responsibility to this young girl and have housed her in supported accomodation. The hardship fund was also used to buy beds for 2 of our clients age 15 and 13. Our youth advocate discovered that they were having to sleep on the floor- they had recently moved from their father's house and social services would not provide their mother with a grant to buy them beds.

Please sponsor her- just click on this link www.justgiving.com/heminipatel . Just giving is an easy way to donate and if you are a UK taxpayer an extra 28% is given to us in Gift Aid.