Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Table of cases
- Table of statutes
- Table of statutory instruments
- Table of international instruments
- Part One Theoretical perspectives and international sources
- Part Two Promoting consultation and decision-making
- Part Three Children's rights and parents' powers
- 9 Children's rights versus family privacy – physical punishment and financial support
- 10 Parents' decisions and children's health rights
- 11 Educational rights for children in minority groups
- 12 Educational rights for children with disabilities
- 13 Children's right to know their parents – the significance of the blood tie
- 14 Children's right to know and be brought up by their parents
- 15 An abused child's right to state protection
- 16 Right to protection in state care and to state accountability
- 17 The right of abused children to protection by the criminal law
- 18 Protecting the rights of young offenders
- 19 Conclusion – themes and the way ahead
- Appendix I UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Appendix II Human Rights Act 1998
- Index
- References
17 - The right of abused children to protection by the criminal law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Table of cases
- Table of statutes
- Table of statutory instruments
- Table of international instruments
- Part One Theoretical perspectives and international sources
- Part Two Promoting consultation and decision-making
- Part Three Children's rights and parents' powers
- 9 Children's rights versus family privacy – physical punishment and financial support
- 10 Parents' decisions and children's health rights
- 11 Educational rights for children in minority groups
- 12 Educational rights for children with disabilities
- 13 Children's right to know their parents – the significance of the blood tie
- 14 Children's right to know and be brought up by their parents
- 15 An abused child's right to state protection
- 16 Right to protection in state care and to state accountability
- 17 The right of abused children to protection by the criminal law
- 18 Protecting the rights of young offenders
- 19 Conclusion – themes and the way ahead
- Appendix I UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Appendix II Human Rights Act 1998
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Children obviously have as much right to protection by the criminal law as adults and its use on their behalf clearly indicates that society will not condone their ill-treatment. Behaviour which leads to a child being made the subject of care proceedings under the Children Act (CA) 1989, section 31 may also result in the perpetrator facing criminal charges. Consequently, throughout a child protection investigation there should often be close collaboration between social workers and the police with a view to using both the civil and criminal law. Despite this, the criminal justice system, in many ways, casts a blight over the child protection system. There is a widespread perception amongst childcare practitioners that, as presently organised, the criminal justice system does not promote the welfare of children caught up in its processes and that its use may even victimise them over again. At every stage of the child protection process, efforts to help the child recover from the effects of abuse may be undermined by the prospect of criminal proceedings against the abuser. Sometimes the drive to obtain a conviction may prevail over the needs of the child victim.
If children, as a class, substantially benefited from criminal proceedings being brought against the perpetrators of abuse, this might justify individual children suffering in the process. The conviction rates do not, however, bear this out. It is notoriously difficult to obtain accurate statistics regarding the number of offences recorded against children.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Children's Rights and the Developing Law , pp. 644 - 677Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009
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