Propositions for the Further Development of Juvenile Justice Systems

• NCJ Number: 155420
• Journal: Chronicle Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Dated: (Autumn 1994) Pages: 13-19
• Author(s): F Dunkel
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 37 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Netherlands
• Note: Paper presented to the 14th International Congress of the International Association of Juvenile and Family Court Magistrates, Bremen, Germany, August 28 to September 2, 1994

Annotation

This paper presents 30 recommendations for improving juvenile justice systems, beginning with a statement of the need for a juvenile code that is independent of adult laws, is characterized by educational rather than punitive sanctions, and places particular emphasis on the problems of development and integration faced by young people.

Abstract

Other points are that responses to juvenile offenses should be milder than those for adults, procedural safeguards must be guaranteed, the use of pretrial detention should be reduced, and priority should be given to victim-offender reconciliation. In addition, a juvenile justice system can provide for seven levels of intervention, the principle that the sanction must be proportionate to the offense should be applied to educational measures, and electronic monitoring combined with house arrest is neither necessary nor appropriate. Furthermore, imprisonment of juveniles should be restricted in duration and the ages involved, and the juvenile justice system should be modest and should reflect research findings indicating that even repetitive and serious young offenders will be socially integrated when becoming adults. Additional recommendations