Failing young offenders: Juvenile justice in Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia

British law has evolved in the decades since decolonisation, reform in the justice systems of these 3 states has been inadequate.

The legal systems of the former British colonies derived from British law and in most cases were simple copies of the criminal justice system of the colonial power. A comparison of British law with its ex-colonies reveals, however, that whilst British law has evolved in the decades since decolonisation, particularly in the area of juvenile justice, reform in the justice systems of the three states investigated here has been slow and inadequate.

The law in all these states fails to consistently incorporate the principles of limited criminal liability of minors and the priority of reform and rehabilitation over retribution. Children in conflict with the law often fail to have their rights guaranteed and are frequently treated in a manner inconsistent with a child’s sense of dignity and worth, despite all three states being party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). In addition to the CRC, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules), the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (the Havana Rules), and the UN Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines) serve to define the key rights to which juveniles are entitled in their contact with the criminal justice system (also known as ‘soft norms’).

The Beijing Rules define a juvenile as being ‘a child or young person who, under the respective legal systems, may be dealt with for an offence in a manner which is different from an adult’. To satisfy international standards, an effective juvenile justice system requires dedicated facilities for children at time of arrest, trial and detention. Here the systems in place in Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia are examined in the light of recent original research.  

Author: Simon Robins, Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit, University of York, UK.