July 2026
ICJA recently participated in a webinar organised by the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) at the University of Strathclyde, titled “Towards Child-Centred Justice as a System-Level Paradigm Shift.” The session brought together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to explore what it truly means to redesign justice systems around children’s rights, developmental needs, and lived experiences, rather than simply adapting existing procedures to accommodate them.
The webinar reflected the core research agenda that ICJA has been advancing alongside its academic partners. Speakers examined child-centred justice as a system-level approach, with particular attention to its solution-oriented framework, multi-agency coordination, and commitment to meaningful child participation. Scotland’s Whole System Approach served as a practice-informed case study, demonstrating how these principles can be operationalised across policing, prosecution, care, and custody, and offering transferable lessons for jurisdictions seeking to translate children’s rights into justice practice.
ICJA’s Founder and President Cédric Foussard contributed to the discussion alongside Professor Jennifer Davidson (University of Strathclyde), Professor Fiona Dyer (CYCJ), Zaruhi Gasparyan (Council of Europe), Angela Vigil (Baker McKenzie), and Nicole Drew (OECD).
The webinar builds directly on the peer-reviewed article co-authored by Foussard, Dyer, and Davidson, “Towards Child-Centred Justice as a System-Level Paradigm Shift,” published in the Youth Justice journal, which provides the conceptual framework underpinning this work.
The recording of the webinar is available on the CYCJ website: CYCJ Webinar: Towards Child Centred Justice as a System-Level Paradigm Shift – Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice
