‘Palestine’, in Scott Decker & Nerea Marteache (Arizona State University), eds., International Handbook of Juvenile Justice

Abstract

The State of Palestine became a state party to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989 (CRC) on 2 April 2014. This accession sheds the light, once again, on the situation of children in conflict with the law, particularly after the adoption of the Decree- Law of 2016 concerning the Juvenile Protection by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Despite certain improvements in this decree, much needs to be reformed with regard to juvenile justice in Palestine: at the policy, legislative, institutional, capacity-building and cultural fronts. With the recent accession of the State of Palestine to the CERC, time has come to undertake a comprehensive reform. Such reform is no longer a matter of choice, it an obligation of the State towards the international community as a whole. Palestine is obliged to report its reform actions to the United Nations Committee on Rights of the Child and the State will be held responsible in cases of non-action. The juvenile justice system, which has been long discussed with limited concrete results, lies in the heart of the required reform.