Deakin University
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Can human rights standards counter Australia’s punitive youth justice practices?

Version 2 2024-06-03, 22:03
Version 1 2019-02-26, 16:08
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-03, 22:03 authored by Wendy O'BrienWendy O'Brien, K Fitz-Gibbon
Recent practices in the administration of youth justice across Australian state and territory jurisdictions reveal a powerful tension between the punitive imperative of “tough on crime” political populism, and internationally agreed minimum standards relevant to the treatment of children. In questioning the extent to which human rights standards can and should be used as a useful tool to counter punitive youth justice practices, this article identifies major points of discrepancy between Australia’s international legal obligations and the doctrine and operation of domestic criminal law as it applies to children in conflict with the law. Examining youth justice “crises” in two Australian states, the Northern Territory and Victoria, the article concludes that while child rights are not directly justiciable in Australia, global standards on youth justice provide a unifying discourse that is resistant to the vagaries of populism, and which can guide reform for child rights compliant youth justice legislation and practice.

History

Journal

International journal of children's rights

Volume

26

Location

Leiden, The Netherlands

ISSN

0927-5568

eISSN

1571-8182

Language

English

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2018, Brill

Issue

2

Publisher

Brill Academic Publishers