Failing young offenders

The document examines the failure of juvenile justice systems in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia to meet international standards, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It highlights contradictory legal definitions of childhood, the frequent detention of juveniles with adults, and a lack of dedicated child-friendly courts. The author recommends harmonizing legislation, abolishing corporal punishment, and investing in rehabilitative facilities and personnel training to shift the focus from retribution to reform.

• Legal frameworks in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia are contradictory and fail to consistently apply the principles of limited criminal liability for minors or prioritize rehabilitation over retribution.
• Definitions of childhood vary inconsistently across laws in the three states; for example, Sierra Leone's Children and Young Persons Act 1960 defines minors as under 17, while other instruments use ages 16, 18, or 21.
• Despite international and national mandates to separate juveniles from adults, children are frequently detained in adult prisons in all three countries due to overcrowding and lack of facilities.
• Access to child-friendly judicial proceedings is severely limited; Tanzania has only one dedicated juvenile courtroom nationwide, and Sierra Leone lacks a dedicated juvenile court entirely.
• Corporal punishment remains a problem in Sierra Leone and Tanzania due to ambiguous laws, and in Zambia, 60% of remanded juveniles report being assaulted by police during arrest and questioning.
• Juvenile detention facilities often fail to provide the necessary rehabilitative services, such as education and health, and some continue to use prohibited practices like solitary confinement.

APA

Robins, S. (2009). Failing young offenders. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NO8AHSI.PDF

Chicago

Robins, Simon. Failing young offenders. Institute for Security Studies, 2009. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NO8AHSI.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Robins |first1=Simon |title=Failing young offenders |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=September 2009 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NO8AHSI.PDF |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{robins2009failing, author = {Robins, Simon}, title = {{Failing young offenders}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2009}, month = sep, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NO8AHSI.PDF}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }