Page 86 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

child-specific continuing professional development training mandatory
for all solicitors who provide representation for children and young
adults. In respect of both barristers and solicitors, the Legal Aid Agency
must better remunerate such work to reflect the specialist expertise
required for competent practice. 235

4.17 With specialist training legal representatives will be better equipped to foster
trust, for example by questioning the reasons for stops and circumstances in
which they are conducted, and explaining to their child clients why they may
be on first name terms with the police officers during police custody. They
should also be alert to the possibility that they may have their own biases that
may negatively affect their clients.

4.18 We recognise the work of Just for Kids Law, through the Youth Justice Legal
Centre, 236 in offering such training, and commend it to all those involved in
237
representing children and young adults or working on YJS-related matters.
The Howard League for Penal Reform and the Youth Justice Centre have also
jointly developed a guide on representing looked after children at the police
station, with particular attention paid to race. 238 This will be further expanded
upon in forthcoming anti-racism guidance for lawyers.
239

Making consistent decisions

4.19 For trust to be built in the YJS, the right decisions must be made, at the right
time. This is a truism but it is worth stating as we have seen the YJS fail to take
the right decision time and again when it concerns BAME children. As set out
above, BAME children are less likely to be diverted, more likely to be

235 Recognition of this can be implied from the Terms of Reference for the Independent Review of
Criminal Legal Aid (2018), which stated that the criminal legal aid provider market should “operates to
ensure that Legal Aid services are delivered by practitioners with the right skills and experience.”.
236 Just for Kids Law is a UK charity that works with and for children and young people. In 2015, it set
up the Youth Justice Legal Centre to provide legally accurate information, guidance and training on
youth justice law.
237 Youth Justice Legal Centre, ‘Training’.

238 Howard League for Penal Reform, ‘Representing looked-after children at the police station: A step-
by-step guide for lawyers’, 2019.
239 Howard League for Penal Reform, ‘Making sure Black lives matter in the criminal justice system:
Practical steps towards change’, 2020.

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