11th August 2010
The Irish Youth Justice Service has released its annual report. The report details the progress achieved on the goals and objectives outlined in the National Youth Justice Strategy 2008-2010. This strategy is dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcome for children that come into contact with the criminal justice system.
The report demonstrates that throughout 2009 progress was made on the development of new national detention facilities for children. Furthermore, in recognition of the fact that the detention of children should only be used as a last resort, the report also elaborates on the community programmes that have been put in place in an attempt to divert children away from criminal activity.
There has been little improvement to the numbers of children being held in detention schools during 2009. During 2008, there were 123 individual children detained in a children detention school. In 2009 this figure stood at 114. 111 young people were detained on remand in 2008. In 2009 this figure stood at 109. The average occupancy at any one time for detention places was 34 in 2008 but this rose to 39 in 2009.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.