Bjorn Westlund Cronstedt from the European Commission Street Children Project, Vietnam, will visit the University of Glasgow on 22 November to discuss juvenile justice and child welfare.

Drawing on the work carried out at the Panchito Lopez children’s prison in Paraguay, Cronstedt’s lecture, Children in Conflict with the Law: An International Perspective, will underline the consequences of punitive and inhumane treatment towards children. He will also highlight the dissonance between the rhetoric and reality of implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child but will note the potential the law has to protect children.

Cronstedt said: "There are too many examples of how children in conflict with the law are affected by a cycle of disadvantage and injustice. The survival strategies that many children born into poverty resort to, to enable their families to survive, frequently brings them into conflict with the law and leads to further exclusion.

“To escape this cycle of disadvantage one important strategy has to be concerned with building children's capacity for developing their life skills, knowledge and participation."

Cronstedt will also discuss the Children’s Hearings System, which was established by the namesake of the lecture series, Lord Kilbrandon. This important initiative was set up following Lord Kilbrandon’s recommendation that all children under the age of 16 should be treated for their needs rather than their deeds and called for them to be removed from criminal procedures designed for adults.

Professor Malcolm Hill, Senior Research Fellow at the Glasgow School of Social Work, a joint centre of the universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, said: “Lord Kilbrandon’s proposals were truly groundbreaking. The committee Kilbrandon led put in place a radical system firmly focused on children’s welfare which continues to attract the interest of visiting specialists from around the world. It is important that this unique legacy is acknowledged and celebrated.”

Bjorn Westlund Cronstedt’s talk is the 8th in the Kilbrandon Lecture Series organised in co-operation with the Scottish Government. It will take place at the Bute Hall, University of Glasgow on 22 November. The reception will begin at 5.15pm prior to the lecture at 6pm. The event is free and members of the public wishing to attend must register by emailing Clare Laidlaw at c.laidlaw@admin.gla.ac.uk or phoning 0141 330 4978.

Notes to editors

For more information please contact Kate Richardson at the University of Glasgow’s Media Relations Office on 0141 330 3683 or email K.Richardson@admin.gla.ac.uk

First published: 13 November 2007

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