Ms Deirdre Malone:

Currently the key issue in respect of the standard set out in Article 10 is that there would be separation, at least, between children on remand and children who have been convicted. We have not yet even achieved that baseline, however. The Children's Rights Alliance has argued that we should examine closely the frequency with which we place children on remand. When we use the world "remand" we sometimes forget this means that a child who has not been convicted of any crime is separated from family, school and friends while awaiting a trial. He or she will be experiencing all the difficulties one inevitably experiences when one is detained. Our first aspiration should be to meet the basic standard because were are not even at that point. The second aspiration is to examine the frequency with which we are using remand and whether we are using it for the right reasons. Are we using remand as a welfare alternative or only where it is absolutely necessary? We need to investigate how necessary it is in the context of particular cases.