Rethinking Juvenile Justice in Ghana: Proposing Practical Measures through a Child Rights Based Approach

The CRC and other International instruments provide standards on the rights of the child to ensure special treatment of the juvenile to achieve rehabilitation and reintegration. These standards acknowledge children as bearers of certain universally agreed norms and serve as a solid theoretical basis for justifying issues concerning children In accordance with the CRC, the aim of the juvenile justice system is to establish a separate system of treatments of juveniles from adults to ensure reintegration. Elements of criminal justice systems which include lengthy and punitive legal proceedings are to be avoided. Contrary to this, many juvenile justice systems subject children to the rigors of the criminal justice system which often does not take into consideration the child‟s age, vulnerability and right to special treatment. Ghana has shown commitment to protect the rights of juveniles by ratifying the CRC and other relevant international instruments related to juveniles. Ghana has however not met the standards of these instruments which provide for special treatment of the juvenile to ensure rehabilitation and reintegration. This paper addresses the issue of how Ghana can adopt a Child Rights Based Approach to juvenile justice with a particular focus on „diversion‟.