Article Analysis - Research Paper Example

The research realizes a need to draw comparative judgment between various European jurisdictions in order to identify the differences in juvenile criminal procedure and reforms which exist specially after the devolution within the UK. Design The design of the research is mostly analytical with comparisons drawn between the differing localities and the legislations between them. Since the United Kingdom engulfs several legal entities within it such as Ireland, Wales, and England, comparisons are quickly drawn between the ways the same law is adjudicated within these countries.

It utilizes the constitution as a source while considering the conventions of the United Nations as well as the devolved legislations as supplementary sources. The research does comprise statistical figures but mainly draws from scholarly articles and official documents that contain the requisite legal information, such as the Constitution and the Home Office documents. The emphasis is on the effect of such laws on juvenile delinquency and hence, incorporates statistical figures of young criminals between the four primary United Kingdom territories of Scotland, England, Ireland, and Wales.

Operational Definition of Juvenile The youth is distinguished from juveniles with respect to legal terminology and as such, juveniles are those children to whom criminal sanctions may be awarded as appropriated by the law of the respective country in which the crime is committed. In criminal terms, juveniles in England are considered to be children between the ages of 12 and 18 where as in Scotland, they fall between the age of 10 and 16. Inductive logic The devolution of the National Assemblies to Ireland and Wales has resulted in separate punitive measures with regards to criminal justice such that each country in the United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland) has its own set of policies governing the youth justice system as well as their welfare.

The differences exist as a result of the aim within jurisdictions to strike a balance between “rights compliance, cost-effectiveness, prevention, early intervention, diversion, social inclusion, treatments or punishment” (Muncie) keeping local perspectives in mind. Thus, it is concluded that there can be no concrete measure to establish a uniform legal order with regards to the youth justice system across the United Kingdom. Deductive logic The research also states the impact of having a separate legislature within a devolved regime.

Since Scotland has its own parliament and is therefore independent of the parliament of England and Wales, it enacts its own laws that pertain to juvenile justice. It abolished juvenile courts and promoted youth correction by a process known as hearing, which essentially involved laymen as judges accompanied by officials that promoted child welfare and criminal correction. However, while this process has been credited as pioneering, Scotland is still trying the highest number of young criminals aged between 16 and 18 in the United Kingdom, that too in adult courts subject to adult criminal sanctions.

Thus, the research concludes that a separate parliament/legislature does not equate to better juvenile justice structure or a safer discourse for children. Nature of study: Quantitative or Qualitative The study conducts a qualitative analysis of scholarly resources as well as official documents in order to draw comparisons between the juvenile justice systems of