Supporting children’s rights is at the very heart of all the work done at the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ). Based at Strathclyde, CYCJ has played an important role in the development of a major piece of recent legislation that will have a big impact on many young people across Scotland - the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act.

Crucial legislation

Passed in 2024, the Act was designed to make significant changes to the way Scotland’s care and justice systems support and protect children and young people. This crucial legislation aims to significantly improve outcomes for those children and young people who come into formal systems. For example, one major objective of the legislation was to end the use of Young Offenders Institutions for children, and instead to care for children who need to be deprived of their liberty within secure care facilities which are age and stage-appropriate. This is important because Scotland is recognising that children and young people are still growing up, that they have special rights and protections because of their age, and that impacts on how they are cared for.

The Act went through a lengthy consultation and preparation process over many years before being passed, with CYCJ being involved from the beginning, working hard to change the law for the better, and in the best interests of Scotland’s children.

Unparalleled practice experience

To support this change in mindset, the CYCJ team offered their unparalleled practice experience and knowledge of the law as it relates to children and young people and contributed to the legislative journey through all three areas of the Centre’s work - participation and engagement of young people, research, and via policy and practice development. CYCJ’s research and evidence informed the content of the Act and a professional adviser was seconded to the Scottish Government to inform development of the new legislation. The Centre also hosted round table discussion sessions for partner organisations, and sessions specifically to hear the contributions of children and young people who have experience of the care or justice systems, or both, to inform the consultation process and legislative development. CYCJ also provided evidence to the Scottish Parliament and supported young people to do so.

Working relationships with young people

Supporting and understanding the law was, of course, central to CYCJ’s input, but an additional and essential contribution came from the team’s long-standing working relationship with young people with lived experience of the care and justice systems. Those relationships, combined with research in the sector conducted over many years, has informed CYCJ’s certain knowledge that prisons are not the right environment for children. This was not always a consensus position across Scotland and CYCJ worked hard to inform and change the thinking of other professionals and agencies.

Importantly, CYCJ’s role has not ended now that the Act has been passed and is in the process of being implemented. The new legislation is far-reaching, requiring both rapid learning and a shift in practice from many of the agencies involved. As a result, CYCJ has an ongoing remit to support preparations for commencement and readiness across the whole sector and are working with organisations across Scotland at national and local levels such as the police, social work, the children’s hearing system, secure care centres, courts and the Crown Office. Since the Act was passed by the Scottish Government in April 2024, CYCJ has provided inputs to over one and a half thousand participants at learning events, webinars and workshops. The Centre has also provided support to almost all Scotland’s local authorities.

For CYCJ, it’s been a source of huge pride to be involved in such an important, innovative legal evolution - if the Centre can’t champion the rights of children and young people in conflict with the law, who will? Sharing knowledge and expertise, collaborating with professionals from all sectors and involving children and young people themselves has been a hugely rewarding journey. And that journey will continue for the CYCJ team as they support, observe and advise while the Act is gradually implemented across the whole country.