Lord Navnit Dholakia, who is also the President of the National Association of Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO), has lent his support to the recommendations made by Lord Harris and his team, in their report on self-inflicting deaths by young people in custody.
The young people concerned often have a combination of problems and experiences which can include physical abuse, family conflict, sexual abuse, traumatic loss, parental neglect, drug and alcohol misuse, exclusion from school and mental health problems.
Lord Dholakia stated, “We need to ensure that vulnerable young people have diverted from the criminal justice system wherever possible, that custody is used for younger offenders only when it is absolutely essential and that custodial regimes can provide young people with care, support and rehabilitation which takes account of the particular needs of this age group. The Government should adopt the same approaches for young adult offenders aged 18 to 24 as those which have produced a significant fall in recent years in the number of juvenile offenders aged under 18 in custody.”
He gave an example how the Sentencing Council could be asked to produce a set of Overarching Principles for sentencing young adults, similar to the principles for sentencing juveniles which were produced by the former Sentencing Guidelines Council.
He stated how the Government could set targets for reducing first time entrants to the young adult criminal justice system similar to those which helped increase the diversion of juveniles from the youth justice process.
Lord Dholakia said, “Far too many young adults are still sent into custody for short sentences, which serve little purpose. They are too short for sustained rehabilitation programmes, but they are long enough for young people to lose jobs and accommodation and to weaken their family ties- all of which makes them more likely to reoffend.”
He also spoke about the Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill, where he mentioned the issues highlighted by Baroness Cox. He said, “The Noble Lady [Baroness Cox] has raised important issues affecting the rights and liberties of people in many parts of the world. She has travelled far and wide and at times to places which are hostile and unwelcoming, but this has not deterred her from speaking at first hand and with experience on matters which has often escaped public attention.”
Lord Dholakia also speaks about Article 111 of the Declaration of Human Rights (1948): “Everyone has a right to life, liberty and security of person.”
He mentioned, “We must not run away from the decline of ethical behaviour on one hand, and the growth of fundamentalism on the other hand.”
