Page 14 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

how the CJS perceives and treats BAME people. Acknowledging that racial
and ethnic disparity is an issue is only the first step in a long journey to justice.

1.4 We note two important developments in this space. First, the Government’s
establishment of a Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities in July 2020,
which was launched to “look at outcomes across the country, with a focus on
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education, employment, health and the criminal justice system” for BAME
people. With the benefit of this Working Party’s interim findings, JUSTICE
responded to the Commission’s Call for Evidence, and we await its findings
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with interest. Second, the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) recent publication of the
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White Paper, ‘A Smarter Approach to Sentencing’. As this report sets out,
disparate outcomes are apparent at a sentencing level, and we hope this report’s
recommendations can contribute to improvements by way of the forthcoming
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legislation.
1.5 The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) requires that the best
interests of the child shall be a primary consideration in all actions concerning
children, and that all rights shall be applied without discrimination. In
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practice, this means that the UK should promote laws and procedures that deal
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with children without placing them before a court. This is also a requirement
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of guidelines issued by the Council of Europe.
1.6 While the UNCRC has not been made part of domestic law, it has been ratified
by the UK, and the Courts have considered that rights which fall under the

10 Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, ‘Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities: sub-group
priorities’ September 2020.
11 JUSTICE, ‘Ethnic Disparities and Inequality in the UK: Call for Evidence’ November 2020.
12 Ministry of Justice, ‘A Smarter Approach to Sentencing’ September 2020.
13 We are particularly concerned by the White Paper’s equalities statement that unequal outcomes with
respect to BAME individuals are “a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aims of protecting
the public and achieving consistency within the sentencing”. See Ministry of Justice, ‘A Smarter
Approach to Sentencing: Overarching Equalities Statement’ September 2020.
14 Article 3, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989.
15 Ibid, Article 2.
16 Ibid, Article 40(3).
17 ‘Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child-friendly Justice’,
(Committee of Minister of the Council of Europe, 2010).

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