Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My Lords, Amendment No. 47 is grouped with these government amendments. I thank the Minister for listening to the various submissions made on this matter in Committee and for taking some steps towards removing the hierarchy to which he referred. However, in the classic terms of old Liberal assemblies, it does not go far enough. Consequently we are taking this opportunity in Amendment No. 47 to amend the principles of the youth justice system as set out in Section 37 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Your Lordships will observe that government Amendment No. 36 refers to, "““the principal aim of the youth justice system””," as set out in Section 37(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. However, we urge your Lordships to consider that that Act was passed in 1998 and that matters in relation to youth offenders have moved on considerably since then. Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that, "““the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration””. " In domestic law, the Children Act 1989 establishes that decisions taken by the family court, dealing with a whole range of children’s issues, must be taken in the child’s best interests through the use of the welfare checklist. The 1998 Act was something of an exception. Not only did it address solely children who offend, but it stressed that the primary aim, to which I referred, is the prevention of offending above all other considerations. There is an American film called ““Parenthood””, which I urge all those interested in youth justice to see. It contains a sentence that I always regard with some affection. When a child is born and the new baby is presented to the mother and father, the father, Steve Martin, looks at the mother and says: ““What a wonderful gift this child is, and so far we have done nothing to harm it””. That encapsulates in my mind where an awful lot of the problems that bring young people before the courts start. Maltreatment leads to offending behaviour. Children who offend grow up in an environment of poor parental supervision with a lack of discipline or with harsh and erratic parenting. At earlier stages of the Bill, we talked about the role models that lead children to go astray. Children who offend have an increased likelihood of living in poor housing and experiencing family conflict. Their role models are their parents and grandparents but these families have a history of anti-social behaviour. In young offender institutions within the prison system, children are treated as prisoners. They are confined. The staff are generally trained as though they were prison officers. Although it is suggested that courses should be offered, the atmosphere is that of a prison and not of a place where children can be persuaded to change their offending behaviour and to discuss problems or difficulties that they may have with safe and trusted adults. In its recent report on the use of restraint in secure training centres, the Joint Committee on Human Rights said about the treatment of children in custody: "““The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 … ratified by the UK in 1991, emphasizes a recognition of the dignity and worth of children. In the context of detained children and young people, this principle is vital to the rehabilitation of the child and to his or her ability to be an effective citizen when released. However, law and practice in the UK relating to children and young people in detention calls into question the Government's commitment to that principle””." Two government departments are particularly concerned with young people in trouble: that for children, schools and young people—I forget the precise name of the department, but it is something like that.