Recognising how daunting and overwhelming the court experience can be for children, one legal education officer has emphasised the importance of providing resources that empower young people and help remove the key barriers they face within the justice system.
For children and young people, appearing before a court can be an overwhelming, confusing, and often distressing experience – particularly when they lack a clear understanding of the process or access to appropriate support.
Luke Roberts, community legal education officer at the Youth Advocacy Centre, emphasised the importance of providing young people with both a voice and the tools to comprehend the legal system, empowering them to navigate it not just effectively, but with confidence.
While adults have the capacity to instruct their legal representatives and make informed decisions in their best interests, Roberts noted that many children lack the developmental maturity to do the same or to fully comprehend the consequences of their decisions.
“Adults usually have the capacity to instruct their legal representatives on their matters and to make choices in their best interest or for their own reasons,” he said.
“Children are not as developmentally matured as adults, and so the onus rests on the legal system to accommodate and support children to ensure this basic guarantee.”
Roberts also highlighted that when children are properly informed and actively engaged in the court process, they are not only more likely to understand what is happening but also to “accept a court’s decisions” and participate meaningfully in any resulting outcomes.
However, despite its clear importance, there are still significant barriers preventing children from having this experience within the court system.
Roberts identified one of the biggest challenges as children’s unfamiliarity with the legal process and their limited understanding of how their actions may lead to legal consequences.
“Communication and lack of familiarity with the legal system are the biggest barriers. Many of the young people charged with offences are first introduced to the legal system by being charged with a crime. They don’t know that their behaviour may get them into trouble,” he said.
“Further, a child’s concept of justice is different to the concept of justice operating throughout the legal system. For example, children do not understand cumulative punishment or how a criminal history may affect them later, especially if an issue has been resolved. A child’s concept of justice is informed by their lived experiences, like family and school.”
This gap in understanding the complexity of legal proceedings and jargon is a significant issue, with Roberts noting that many children struggle to “engage with the language” and are often unclear about what decisions are being made on their behalf.
To address these challenges, Roberts advocated for legal professionals and court staff to use age-appropriate, plain-language communication, alongside improved training on how to effectively engage with young people.
“These issues can be addressed through the use of age-appropriate and plain language. Better training for court staff on how to engage with young people is required, along with improved communication for those waiting to be seen,” he said.
“Importantly though, we know that in the long term a more effective response for addressing offending behaviour in children is through prevention and early intervention, diversion and justice reinvestment rather than seeing them in the courts in the first place.”
As part of efforts to support this approach, the Youth Advocacy Centre (YAC) has recently launched an animated video aimed at demystifying the children’s court process. The video is designed to reduce fear, confusion, and anxiety among young people navigating the legal system.
By providing accessible resources, Roberts explained, it ensures that “all children can be given information about the legal system, despite their reading comprehension”, giving every young person the opportunity to feel empowered within the court system.
