Progress update: Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill

Date: 16th June 2023
Category: Care Experienced children, Child justice system

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The Stage 1 Report for the Bill is now available. This Bill proposes significant changes including maximising the use of the Children’s Hearings System for under-18s.

The Stage 1 Report summarises the Bill’s examination by Education, Children and Young People Committee. The Committee has agreed on the Bill’s general principles and its potential benefits for children and young people. It has also issued some recommendations to the Scottish Government ahead of the Stage 1 debate. These recommendations include the need for more clarity on the funding and costs of the Bill and the need to review the definition of a "child" across Scots law, to ensure consistency and reduce complexity.

While Stage 1 is all about looking at the general principles of a Bill, MSPs will be able to debate proposed amendments when it reaches Stage 2.

Our Director, Juliet Harris, spoke about the Bill at the National Youth Justice Conference earlier this week. She spoke the principles of a child-friendly justice system that is rooted in children’s rights – and the importance that this is reflected in the Bill. For more details on Together’s position you can read our response to the Stage 1 call for views.

Recently, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child made a range of recommendations relevant to children’s care and justice systems. These included a call to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to “at least” 14 and to ensure that the child justice system is applied to all those who were below 18 at the time of the alleged offence. The UN Committee also called for a review into the definition of a “child” to ensure that all under-18s are defined and protected in law as children.

• Read Stage 1 Report here.
• Read an overview of the Bill here.
• Read more about the UN Committee’s recent recommendations here.