Mark Telford

‘No more excuses': the shaping of community interventions in England and Wales in the 1980s

In 1997, the UK Government signalled a sea-change in youth justice policy and practice with the publication of its tellingly titled White Paper No More Excuses. It laid the ground work for much of the current youth justice landscape in England and Wales. The White Paper provided not only a vision for the future of youth justice institutions, powers, and practices but also set out a disparaging narrative on the state of youth justice as it had developed, in particular, during the 1980s. The present paper, through an exploration of documentary materials and qualitative interviews with practitioners, challenges the historical account presented by the Government and offers a new narrative which explores a practice transition to a new youth justice specialism and the development of community interventions during the 1980s. It offers an insight into the practice logic of the period and thereby questions the ‘legibility craft’ of New Labour and the youth justice legacy it has left behind.

The criminal responsibility of children and young people: an analysis of compliance with international human rights obligations in England and Wales

The question of the minimum age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is one which regularly arises. The recent confirmation of the abolition of the presumption of doli incapax raised some concerns about the resultant treatment of young people in the criminal justice system. This paper approaches this issue from the perspective of England and Wales’ compliance with human rights obligations. The application of the substantive criminal law is analysed with respect to its compliance with relevant international human rights standards. Research relating to the engagement of the criminal justice process with young people is examined, leading to a conclusion that the position in practice bears more consideration to the status of young people than the substantive law might initially suggest. However, concerns relating to arbitrariness in this practice lead to a conclusion that raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility is desirable.