Children, Human Rights and Criminal Justice in Wales

In relation to children, including child offenders, Wales claims to have designed a rights-based system to address their needs and to have put it into operation. The article will consider the extent to which this has been delivered. It suggests that Wales has been successful at a constitutional and policy level and that there are strengths in the practical systems. However, there are weaknesses in delivering a rights-based system to young offenders both in the legal controls which apply to children and in the practical systems in place in some areas. It therefore finds that Wales has moved a long way in delivering a rights-based system but that there is still some distance to travel before being able to claim all children in Wales enjoy their full rights. Some of the shortfall could only be resolved with greater devolution but some could be achieved in other ways.