Rehab or Punishment?

By Jenna Atwal

The UNODC began their first session this Friday evening with a productive conversation on children in the justice system. The session quickly started with Australia and Hungary expressing their desire for juvenile justice to be explored, while Yemen and the Czech Republic argued that transatlantic organized crime should be discussed first. While both sides each received a large amount of table knocks, Topic A won a large majority vote, and UNODC began discussing juvenile justice systems.

Quickly into the secondary speakers list, the delegate of Sweden used an interesting analogy to describe the experiences of youth in the justice system saying that these children were lost boys and that a Peter Pan needs to come and “take them to Neverland.” Sweden then went on to argue that the justice system is punishing children too harshly, and that they need access to mental health services and rehab rather than “Wooden plank[s].” In the context of this speech, Peter Pan represents a strong justice system, ready to help its children after society has failed them.

Additionally, the delegate of Japan had a similar view to Sweden, claiming that children are “Impressionable…[and] moldable,” and that a tough prison environment will only worsen the state of convicted youth. In fact, all of the countries that spoke during session one had a similar stance on this topic, claiming that the justice system is too tough on children. Countries such as Nigeria and Romania both expressed a desire to improve prison conditions but lacked the resources to make that possible. Even Russia admitted that their juvenile detention system is slightly corrupt, but they intend on improving for the sake of their children.

With most countries seemingly on the same page when it comes to the youth justice system, a 10:1 moderated caucus was held on Rehab versus Punishment. Again, the majority of the speakers agreed that rehab is the way to go in the future, with only Vietnam disagreeing with this proposition, arguing that all criminals were once children and that someone must put them in line.

Despite there being two sides to the moderated caucus, rehab or punishment, the United States of America took a unique approach to the issue, saying that rehab and punishment must be used together to effectively correct the justice system. This new approach is likely to succeed, as the U.S. was able to garner support from both sides of the argument.

No bloc positions have yet to be determined. However, there will likely be three predominant positions; rehab, punishment, and a combination of them both. So far, UNODC delegates are willing to cooperate and work together for the welfare of children in the justice system around the globe.