Youth Justice and Children's Rights: Measuring Compliance with International Standards

There is now a wide range of international instruments from the United Nations, the Council of Europe and other bodies on children’s rights that explain state’s obligations to children in conflict with the law. This article – an introduction to a special issue on the application of international youth justice standards – aims to introduce the principles of the international standards, including a commitment to age-appropriate treatment, the importance of diversion and the imperative of rehabilitation over punishment.