Written evidence submitted by Children’s Legal Centre Wales (FPW0002)

 

The continued divergence between UK policing/criminal justice policy and Wales’s children’s rights framework presents a clear case for the devolution of policing to ensure the rights of children in Wales are respected, protected and fulfilled. In answer to the above question, we also believe this will improve children’s experience of policing in Wales.

Please find below an evidence submission from Children’s Legal Centre Wales, that reflects this discussion. The Children’s Legal Centre Wales provides Wales wide online bilingual legal advice and information for children, training and education on the law as it affects children, carries out research and evidence based advocacy to change and improve law, policy and practice and works with legal partners and third sector agencies, to identify legal cases that will have a wider impact on realising children’s rights.

 

Hyperlinks are included throughout the submission to take the reader to further evidence.

Ensuring children’s rights are considered in all areas of UK policy/proposed legislation

  1. In 2025 and into early 2026, Children’s Legal Centre Wales worked with Just for Kids Law, the NSPCC and UNICEF UK to share evidence from Wales demonstrating how giving due regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), alongside Children’s Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs), helps ensure that children’s rights are embedded in governance and decision-making rather than overlooked. Crucially, where children’s rights are not properly considered, a clear legislative framework exists in Wales via the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011 to enable scrutiny and appropriate challenge to ensure children’s rights are protected.

 

  1. Such a duty is particularly important because children’s rights and interests are structurally marginalised. Children under 18 (at UK level) cannot vote and are excluded from many decision-making processes that directly affect their lives. This was made especially evident during the pandemic, when failures to consider children’s rights had significant consequences. The UK Covid Inquiry’s Module 2 report found that decision-makers did not adequately assess the impact of their actions on children and recommended the introduction of statutory Children’s Rights Impact Assessments at UK level.

 

  1. In response, Baroness Ruth Lister tabled an amendment to the Children, Schools and Wellbeing Bill at Report Stage to introduce statutory CRIAs in line with the Inquiry’s recommendation. However, the amendment was withdrawn in February following UK Government opposition. UK Government Ministers argued that the Government already gives due regard to the UNCRC and undertakes children’s rights impact assessments where appropriate, and that placing these requirements on a statutory footing would be “too burdensome”. The UK Government subsequently confirmed that it would not implement the Inquiry’s recommendation for statutory CRIAs the only recommendation specifically relating to children.

 

  1. It was extremely disappointing to see continued inaction on incorporating the UNCRC into UK law, despite strong cross-sector support from 160 organisations for a statutory duty of due regard to the UNCRC through the Children, Schools and Wellbeing Bill. While the proposed legislation would not have applied directly to the policing of children, it is nevertheless significant. The Government’s opposition to the amendment demonstrates a continuing unwillingness to place children's rights at the heart of decision-making through incorporation of the UNCRC, despite the positive impact such a framework could have across all areas of policy and practice affecting children.

 

  1. There are many examples that demonstrate that the UK Government does not consistently give due regard to the UNCRC or undertake children’s rights impact assessments (see further discussion below). It is deeply concerning that statutory safeguards are considered too burdensome when their absence may result in children’s rights being violated or overlooked at critical points in decision-making.

Children can still be assaulted by parents in England

  1. Take a topical example, where children’s rights continue to be violated: parents are still legally permitted to physically assault their children in England, unlike in Wales, and in Scotland. The amendment to end the “reasonable punishment” defence in the Children, Schools and Wellbeing Bill was also withdrawn. Strikingly, while the same UK bill garnered support to protect children from the harms of social media, this concern did not extend to children hit by their parents at home. Research supported by children’s own testimony, shows that this violence causes not only physical pain but also deep emotional harm and trauma, with children testifying to the “hurt inside”. As former Presiding Officer Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas put it, in a debate on abolition of the defence in Wales in 2011, the reform is a necessary consequence of seeing children as citizens: not as ‘citizens in the making, some sub-species of citizen, or citizens to be treated differently, either ethically or legally, to other citizens’ (Record of Proceedings, NAW, 19 October 2011).

 

  1. We are incredibly thankful that, in relation to this children’s rights issue, Wales was able to act within its devolved competence. Through the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020, the Senedd abolished the common-law defence of ‘reasonable punishment’, giving children in Wales the same protection from assault as adults. Importantly, this reform did not require the creation of a new criminal offence; rather, it removed a legal defence that had previously been available to parents and carers. However, in areas of criminal justice and policing, Wales continues to face significant constraints in its ability to protect, respect and fulfil children's rights.

Wales’ progress vs. limits of devolution

  1. It is inaccurate when the UK Government claims:

“Devolved administrations are free to develop their approach to children’s rights, and we are confident that the UK Government’s approach to children’s rights fulfils our duties under the UNCRC” (Hansard transcript).

  1. While it is true that Wales has made positive progress with its approach to children’s rights, including progressive legislation that indirectly incorporates the UNCRC via the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011, this applies only to devolved areas. Under this framework, Welsh Government Ministers must give due regard to the UNCRC in the exercise of any of their functions and via the Welsh Government Children’s Rights Scheme, Children’s Rights Impact Assessments must be conducted for all policy and legislation development in devolved areas such as health, education, social care etc. What is categorically untrue is the suggestion that Wales is wholly free to develop its approach to all children’s rights. In reality, Welsh Government lacks control over critical policy areas that affect children’s daily lives, this includes criminal justice and policing.

 

  1. We have waited many years for the UK Government to adhere to their promises to devolve youth justice and more broadly, to help Wales, move beyond the ‘jagged edge’ and align criminal justice with international children’s rights standards and our own Wales children’s rights legislation. Wales has long demonstrated leadership in youth justice. Since the early years of devolution, there has been considerable success in diverting children away from the formal youth justice system. Wales was, the driver of the concept of ‘Children First: Offender Second’, rooted in children’s rights and trauma-informed practice.

 

  1. Wales has developed a rights-based framework supported by legislation such as the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011, the Social Services and Well Being (Wales) Act 2014, Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018, Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010, and the Well-Being and Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 etc. This has supported a sustained shift toward prevention, participation, and well-being led approaches across children’s services. There is also the clear and ongoing commitment to further incorporate human rights treaties in Wales.

 

  1. However, with policing still remaining reserved to Westminster, this creates structural fragmentation between:

 

This separation creates policy incoherence, particularly where policing practices directly affect children’s rights in Wales. A more coherent Welsh model requires immediate devolution of policing and justice powers to align delivery systems with Wales’ established rights-based framework.

 

  1. The recent UK Government Youth Justice White Paper, ‘Cutting youth crime, changing young lives’ also does not adequately engage with these constitutional realities or with the extent to which Wales has already developed a distinct Child First, Children’s Rights, Trauma Informed and Anti-Racist Approach. The recent announcement, to devolve some more elements of youth justice, by 2027/2028 does not come soon enough or go far enough, and while we welcome many of the proposals in the UK Youth Justice White paper, they also do not go far enough with regards to devolution and the protection of children’s rights.

UK criminal justice and policing policy: the negative impact on children in Wales

The following examples highlight youth justice and related policing issues that raise concerns from a children's rights perspective and illustrate areas where UK policy does not align with children's rights standards.

 

Children as young as 8 years can still be strip searched in Wales (and England)

 

  1. Children as young as 8 years of age continue to be legally permitted to be strip searched by the police in England and Wales. In May 2025, the Welsh Government, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, in response to a question in the Senedd, in relation to our child strip search briefing reaffirmed her commitment to upholding the UNCRC and promoting a child-first, rights-based approach. However, she also acknowledged that the Welsh Government does not have control over policing or criminal justice. So, while we continue to advocate for ending strip searches, there have been prolonged delays, with still no published UK Home Office review of the PACE Codes or accompanying Children’s Rights Impact Assessment. Given the degrading and traumatic nature of strip searches, this lack of transparency and timely reform is deeply concerning.

 

  1. In the meantime, children in Wales continue to be subjected to this degrading practice. In the majority of cases, nothing illegal is found, safeguards are applied inconsistently, and Black children remain disproportionately subject to strip searches. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has called for legislative measures to explicitly prohibit strip searches of children “without exception”. (This position has been reinforced by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 2024.) The Children and Young People’s Policing Charter 2025 states that policing should be delivered in line with the UNCRC. However, if this commitment were being properly implemented in practice, strip searching of children would already have been brought to an end, consistent with the Committee’s clear recommendation.

 

  1. In addition, Children’s Commissioners in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have all called for an end to the strip search of children. In Wales, a broad coalition of third sector organisations, convened by the Senedd Cross-Party Group on Children and Families and Children in Our Care in its 2025 Law for Every Child proposal, has also called for further devolution to enable prohibition of the practice.

 

  1. Taken together, it is difficult to justify the continued use of a practice that is widely regarded as harmful and ineffective, and which compounds trauma and undermines children’s dignity, particularly in a context where less intrusive alternative technologies are available.

 

Tasers are used by the police on children in Wales (and England)

  1. International human rights bodies, including the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, have called for an outright prohibition on the use of Tasers against children. In its 2023 Concluding Observations, the Committee recommended that the UK and devolved governments ban the use of harmful devices, including Tasers, on all individuals under the age of 18, citing the significant physical, psychological and developmental harms they can cause. Concerns are further heightened by evidence of disproportionate use against Black and other marginalised children, raising issues of discrimination. Against this backdrop, the use of Tasers on children is increasingly recognised as inconsistent with international children's rights standards and Wales's own rights-based legislative framework.

 

  1. In June 2025, we shared evidence with the Senedd on the proposed rollout of Taser 10 technology for use on children. We made it clear that Tasers inflict intense pain and trauma, raising serious concerns under the UNCRC, which emphasises protection from violence and degrading treatment. The UK Government’s policy permitting police use of Tasers on under-18s is inconsistent with a children’s rights approach and concerns were also expressed by the UK Government’s own medical advisory committee. This policy was introduced without a Children’s Rights Impact Assessment, while the Welsh Government sought assurances that Taser use on children would be compliant with the UNCRC and also expressed that they did not want the Welsh Police forces to use Tasers on children. Highlighting yet again the divergence between UK policing policy and Wales’s rights-based framework.

Facial Recognition Technology rolled out in Wales (and England)

  1. In early 2026, we also expressed our concerns in response to the UK Government consultation on Facial Recognition Technology. While we welcome the commitment in the King’s Speech to finally introduce a dedicated legal framework governing Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), robust safeguards, oversight, and consideration of the impact on children and their rights should have been addressed before FRT was rolled out by police forces. Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), particularly live FRT used by police in public spaces, has been expanding across the UK over the last 5 years, with significant deployment in South Wales.

 

  1. We are calling for the proposed legislative framework on facial recognition technology to demonstrate compliance with children’s rights and any proposals to be accompanied by a Children’s Rights Impact Assessment.

Key concerns raised in our briefing related to:
• Inaccuracy & bias: FRT systems disproportionately misidentify children and people from racialised communities.
• Risk of harm: Misidentification can lead to unjustified police intervention, trauma, and longer-term consequences.
• Normalising surveillance: Routine deployment in public spaces, without consent, risks reshaping children’s expectations of privacy, freedom and trust.
• Lack of safeguards: No dedicated protections for children, no mandatory Children’s Rights Impact Assessments, and no independent oversight with a clear children’s rights mandate.

 

This again is further evidence of policing policy being introduced without due regard being given to children’s rights.
 

Children as young as 10 can still be held criminally responsible in Wales (and England).

 

  1. Finally, on 14th January 2026, a robust Senedd debate presented compelling evidence-based arguments to raise the age of criminal responsibility. At age 10, England and Wales maintain one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in Europe. This position has been repeatedly criticised by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and is increasingly difficult to reconcile with contemporary understandings of child development, neurodiversity, and trauma. The Welsh Government reaffirmed its commitment to international children’s rights standards and noted the 2019 Commission for Justice in Wales recommendation to increase the age. This has been further supported by the new Welsh Government’s commitment in their Manifesto to raise the age.

 

  1. While we were pleased to observe UK-level developments, including a proposed amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, backed by senior judges calling for reform, UK Government resistance blocked meaningful progress, with the amendment withdrawn.

 

  1. Additionally, the recent Youth Justice White Paper continued reliance on “consideration” rather than commitment to raising the age of criminal responsibility reflects a broader pattern: essential structural reforms affecting the foundations of youth justice and criminal justice law and policy affecting children, remain deferred rather than addressed. This is in direct contrast to what has been called for consistently in Wales.

Conclusion

  1. The ongoing lack of progress in relation to the policing of children and their rights, is set in contrast to ongoing recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in relation to criminal justice, their calls to fully incorporate the UNCRC across all jurisdictions of the UK and calls from across the children’s sector in Wales.

 

  1. So, with the UK Government continually rejecting opportunities to further embed children’s rights into UK law, we believe it absolutely necessary that policing and justice is devolved, so that Wales can carve its own path, that is committed to respecting, protecting and fulfilling children’s rights. Wales can then join other countries, who are committed to doing what is right for children under international human rights law and create a more appropriate state/child relationship.

 

  1. We would like to see the devolution of policing and justice and urgent transfer of responsibility to a Welsh Government Ministry of Justice, and accountability, oversight and scrutiny of policing of children, to be undertaken by the Senedd, instead of the current inadequate lines of accountability. Scotland and Northern Ireland have long controlled their own policing and justice mechanisms. Leaving Wales as the sole devolved nation without these powers means Welsh children lack a tailored, locally accountable children's rights framework through which policing and justice policy can be aligned with Welsh legislation, policy priorities and international children’s rights standards.

 

 

Dr Rhian Croke

June 2026