15/01/2021: Government U-turn exempts children from extended custody time limits

Campaigners are celebrating a government U-turn exempting children from extended custody time limits during the coronavirus crisis. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Justice . . . implemented new regulations which extended custody time limits by two months, to address delays in the criminal justice system.
Children and Young People Now

15/01/2021: Nine in ten female young offenders are victims of abuse, research finds

Almost all female young offenders are likely to have been abused by a family member or someone they trust, research has found. According to a research report as many as nine in ten girls in the . . . criminal justice system, under the age of 18, may have experienced abused. Just under a third (63 per cent) of young female offenders, aged between 16 and 24 have been victims of rape and/or domestic abuse. In addition, 15 per cent of young women in the same age group have been involved in sex work.
Children and Young People Now

13/01/2021: ‘Child spies’ bill could face Lords defeat as Tory peers rebel

Tory peers, bishops and crossbenchers could inflict defeat on the government after an outcry over new guidance which allows state agencies to use children as undercover spies as part of the . . . government’s covert intelligence bill. Church of England bishops are among those who are expected to back an amendment led by the crossbench peer and children’s rights activist Beeban Kidron, the former Tory cabinet minister George Young, Labour’s Roy Kennedy and the Lib Dems’ Sally Hamwee.
Guardian