“NEEDS NOT DEEDS”: The Scottish Children’s Hearing and the Enduring Legacy of Lord Kilbrandon

Due to political concerns about rising juvenile offending, the Scottish Office in Edinburgh established in 1961, a committee of enquiry to review systems and procedures for children appearing in Scottish Courts. The committee under judge Lord James Kilbrandon reported in 1964. Kilbrandon found that...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: John Sturgeon, Elodie Leygue-Eurieult
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Criminocorpus 2020-03-01
Series:Criminocorpus
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/criminocorpus/7257
_version_ 1797308248797216768
author John Sturgeon
Elodie Leygue-Eurieult
author_facet John Sturgeon
Elodie Leygue-Eurieult
author_sort John Sturgeon
collection DOAJ
description Due to political concerns about rising juvenile offending, the Scottish Office in Edinburgh established in 1961, a committee of enquiry to review systems and procedures for children appearing in Scottish Courts. The committee under judge Lord James Kilbrandon reported in 1964. Kilbrandon found that it was not possible to separate the underlying causes of children appearing in Court due to offending behaviour from those requiring care and protection. In both instances, he argued, the needs of the child had not been met by the adults responsible for their upbringing. Kilbrandon proposed a new system based on the needs of the child, the central role of the family in meeting the child’s needs, and the adoption of a preventative and educational approach to children in difficulty. The Scottish Children’s Hearing, a formally constituted legal tribunal but informal in its operation was created in law by the Social Work (Scotland) Act, 1968. Fifty years later it has stood the test of time and continues to operate in the way that Kilbrandon first envisaged it in 1964. In the words of Bottoms (2002,154), “the Children’s Hearing system is a relatively rare surviving example of a full-fledged, welfare-oriented system, and an assessment of its contemporary functioning is of great theoretical interest”. Kilbrandon’s legacy extends beyond the Children’s Hearing. His vision of shared community responsibility for the welfare of children and the lasting impact of adverse childhood events forms an essential element of Scottish public policy to children, to public health and to justice.
first_indexed 2024-03-08T01:08:53Z
format Article
id doaj.art-ec031c60cf394b90b9ed8c8d67338889
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2108-6907
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-08T01:08:53Z
publishDate 2020-03-01
publisher Criminocorpus
record_format Article
series Criminocorpus
spelling doaj.art-ec031c60cf394b90b9ed8c8d673388892024-02-14T16:26:03ZengCriminocorpusCriminocorpus2108-69072020-03-0110.4000/criminocorpus.7257“NEEDS NOT DEEDS”: The Scottish Children’s Hearing and the Enduring Legacy of Lord KilbrandonJohn SturgeonElodie Leygue-EurieultDue to political concerns about rising juvenile offending, the Scottish Office in Edinburgh established in 1961, a committee of enquiry to review systems and procedures for children appearing in Scottish Courts. The committee under judge Lord James Kilbrandon reported in 1964. Kilbrandon found that it was not possible to separate the underlying causes of children appearing in Court due to offending behaviour from those requiring care and protection. In both instances, he argued, the needs of the child had not been met by the adults responsible for their upbringing. Kilbrandon proposed a new system based on the needs of the child, the central role of the family in meeting the child’s needs, and the adoption of a preventative and educational approach to children in difficulty. The Scottish Children’s Hearing, a formally constituted legal tribunal but informal in its operation was created in law by the Social Work (Scotland) Act, 1968. Fifty years later it has stood the test of time and continues to operate in the way that Kilbrandon first envisaged it in 1964. In the words of Bottoms (2002,154), “the Children’s Hearing system is a relatively rare surviving example of a full-fledged, welfare-oriented system, and an assessment of its contemporary functioning is of great theoretical interest”. Kilbrandon’s legacy extends beyond the Children’s Hearing. His vision of shared community responsibility for the welfare of children and the lasting impact of adverse childhood events forms an essential element of Scottish public policy to children, to public health and to justice.https://journals.openedition.org/criminocorpus/7257Juvenile JusticeScotlandProblem Solving CourtChildren’s HearingChildren’s PanelYouth Justice
spellingShingle John Sturgeon
Elodie Leygue-Eurieult
“NEEDS NOT DEEDS”: The Scottish Children’s Hearing and the Enduring Legacy of Lord Kilbrandon
Criminocorpus
Juvenile Justice
Scotland
Problem Solving Court
Children’s Hearing
Children’s Panel
Youth Justice
title “NEEDS NOT DEEDS”: The Scottish Children’s Hearing and the Enduring Legacy of Lord Kilbrandon
title_full “NEEDS NOT DEEDS”: The Scottish Children’s Hearing and the Enduring Legacy of Lord Kilbrandon
title_fullStr “NEEDS NOT DEEDS”: The Scottish Children’s Hearing and the Enduring Legacy of Lord Kilbrandon
title_full_unstemmed “NEEDS NOT DEEDS”: The Scottish Children’s Hearing and the Enduring Legacy of Lord Kilbrandon
title_short “NEEDS NOT DEEDS”: The Scottish Children’s Hearing and the Enduring Legacy of Lord Kilbrandon
title_sort needs not deeds the scottish children s hearing and the enduring legacy of lord kilbrandon
topic Juvenile Justice
Scotland
Problem Solving Court
Children’s Hearing
Children’s Panel
Youth Justice
url https://journals.openedition.org/criminocorpus/7257
work_keys_str_mv AT johnsturgeon needsnotdeedsthescottishchildrenshearingandtheenduringlegacyoflordkilbrandon
AT elodieleygueeurieult needsnotdeedsthescottishchildrenshearingandtheenduringlegacyoflordkilbrandon