Guarded Welcome for Closure of "Dehumanising Penal Institution"

The Children's Law Centre today gave a guarded welcome on the Government's announcement of it's intention to close Lisnevin Juvenile Justice Centre. The Children's Law Centre have long argued that Lisnevin itself and the policy and practice operating in the Centre, fall far short of acceptable human rights standards. The concerns of the Children's Law Centre were echoed in the Government's own report, which in 1997 described Lisnevin as a "dehumanising penal institution".

"We welcome the closure of Lisnevin. We have been deeply concerned over a number of years about the use of Lisnevin for the detention of children. We believe the policy and practice in relation to detaining children in Lisnevin did not comply with international human rights standards as we had ongoing concerns about alleged denials of the rights of children there" commented Tara Caul, solicitor with the Children's Law Centre. "We are however, concerned by the decision to concentrate all facilities on one site. International guidelines state that custody should be a matter of last resort for children but that when it is unavoidable children should be placed in small family sized units close to their own communities where relationships with families and schools can be maintained. Having one site in Bangor makes it very difficult for a mother from for example Strabane, who does not have a car to visit a child detained there. This could mean that during their period of detention the child never sees it's family".

"We have an important opportunity to create a juvenile justice system which will work for the benefit of children and society. We hope the NIO will not replicate the mistakes of the past with the sole focus on security. It is vital that the culture and ethos of Lisnevin is not transferred to any new site and the priority is on supporting children to turn away from offending and helping them to reintegrate back into their communities as opposed to locking them up" she added.

The Children's Law Centre also sought assurances from the NIO that the Rathgael site would be suitable for children from all communities. The safety of children detained under any new arrangements has to be the paramount consideration for the NIO.

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