Abstract
International treaties ratified by countries such as Kenya, particularly the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, make requirements for a juvenile justice system for children which should be separate and distinct from that applying to adults. This chapter discusses the extent to which children’s rights norms have shaped the legal framework governing the Kenyan juvenile justice system across an array of issues such as age and the legal status of children, pretrial diversion, the requirement for separate courts, institutions and procedures specific to children accused of committing crimes, and sentencing practice that could be distinguished from the regular criminal justice system. The author argues that beyond law reform processes, the Kenyan example proves that the realization of a truly separate juvenile justice system will also require considerable practical administrative changes, investment in new facilities, and an improvement of official capacity and knowledge.
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Odongo, G.O. (2017). Kenya. In: Decker, S., Marteache, N. (eds) International Handbook of Juvenile Justice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45090-2_2
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