27/10/2009 – One million children and young people denied their rights each year, say charities
Over one million children and young people are being denied their rights to liberty, security, shelter and education as a result of not being able to get legal advice, according to the JustRights campaign.
The Children's Rights Alliance for England, Howard League Penal Reform, Law Centres Federation and Youth Access have come together to highlight the issue and campaign for fair access to legal services for children and young people. The charities estimate that the cost of this lack of access to the taxpayer is at least £1 billion each year.
The campaign is asking the government to address the issue by -
- recognising the unique legal advice crisis facing children and young people in the UK;
- investing in age appropriate legal services; and
- developing a cross-departmental strategy to ensure ready access to independent legal advice, when they need it, for all children and young people.
Launching the report, Barbara Rayment, Director of Youth Access, said -
'Children and young people are in a uniquely dangerous situation - they are the least likely age group to get good legal advice, and yet they often need it the most. Today, children and young people in the UK are living on the streets and experiencing serious financial problems because their is no one to defend their rights.'
Marking the launch of the campaign, Youth Access has published a report that highlights details of the difficulties young people face in accessing advice. As well as identifying that 1 million young people are not able to access the advice they need the report says that -
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hundreds of thousands of young people try to get advice but fail because there is no service available to help them;
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only one in seven of young people who get advice get it from a recognised legal professional; and
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most young people do not know their rights.
The press release Children and young people denied their rights as over one million fail to get legal advice every year is available here.
The Youth Access report Young People's Access to Advice - The Evidence is available here.
Further information on the JustRights campaign is available on the website.