How does one undeveloped mind form an ill target that damages societies and themselves? Despite the odds, it’s the most heavily debated topic in criminology. Punishment for juveniles has already been less harsh than adults regardless of how atrocious crimes were; this leads to a debate in whether this ensures safety for all from the victim to the criminal themselves. Indeed, despite many alterations to the system it cannot provide justice for all due to many broken methods within this complex.
One major dilemma in the juvenile crime world is the cliche that circles around continuously: the innocent experiences more pain than the criminals. The prime case that heavily gets criticised is the infamous case of the Murder of James Bulger; though abducted 30 years ago, this story has always been in the limelight on handling the two criminals. Two ten year old boys: the youngest murderers in modern Britain history. In 1993; after James’ mother left him in her gaze momentarily, two boys: Robert Thompsin and Jon Venables, kidnapped, tortured and killed two year old James. Despite this incident being enough to lead an adult to death penalty; due to their young ages, the boys received new identities, rehabilitation and education, moreover they both seeked an appeal and in 2001, they were released as they were viewed as non harmful. However, Jon Venables recently has wronged the parole board as he started implementing child abuse images, and underaged girlfriends leading to his imprisonment in 2010 yet in the next year he was given a new identity however he continued to adapt to his lifestyle and in November 2017 he was imprisoned again; his next parole is scheduled in November 2023; The Daily Mail reported on December that he could be freed by Christmas. Continuous atrocities are punctured. The countless harm Venables conducted from brutal murder to child abuse and possesion of child sexual abuse images was enough to anger many; the leniency rightfully sparked a debate. Denise Fergus, (James' mother) quotes: “ If you let him free, you could be ruining the lives of another family like ours.” The British public has continuously criticised the choices of the parole board; but, it continues. Even public figures such as Jeremy Kyle Grills impose the Freedom Law in the UK: “Evil people cannot be rehabilitated.” Yet no restrictions or bills have been passed concerning the public’s domain if this man receives anonymity and parole. Anonymity has been a common grant in the juvenile system; especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland. A recent case of Ireland’s youngest killers involved the killing of fourteen year old Ana kriegel. Throughout the investigations the names of the two killers were never disclosed; despite the incident shocking the whole country. Many argue on how Kreigel’s whole background, life and death has been shared publicly involving sensitive events of self harm and assault yet the killers remain a secret. Even Denise Fergus stated the harm that could conquer the public due to the two boys receiving anonymity. Hypocritically, Ireland inaugurated the Children Act 2001, which allowed the juvenile offenders anonymity to maximise protection; yet, Ana Kreigel, the victim, has no rights whatsoever on her own tragic case. Undoubtedly, not only the public realises the leniency in the juvenile justice system but the criminals themselves do too. In South Korea, the major social dilemma is the rate of juvenile crimes exceeding drastically turning into a ubiquitous pastime. Many concluded that it was due to mental health issues, yet the prime reason wasn’t that. Children understood and knew the end result before even committing the crime; they knew the juvenile system was there to save them. A recent case in Ilsan, where a thirteen boy continuously robbed a store; when finally caught he made a mockery of the situation by self claiming himself as a juvenile criminal. The juvenile system not only benefits the kids under the age of fourteen but restricts the sentence for citizens aged 14 to 19 to only 20 years in prison even if the crime was murder. The light punishments are criminals' advantages while the victims perish in injustice. Due to these bizarre legislations the juvenile crime rate has risen by 9 percent. If no action takes place; the rate will only continue to increase year by year; scrutinising Korea’s society. To encapsulate; the Juvenile justice system certainly obtains errors that truncates the chances of reducing child incarceration. Due to the leniency towards the wrongdoings; more cases that are further destructive occur; if the juvenile justice system ensures justice to society and children rather than the villainous act, there could be a redemption of juvenile crimes in this modern era.
0 Comments
|
PublisherCIAMUN Press Team Archives
February 2024
Categories |