CRC concluding observations 2016, paragraph 79

With reference to its general comment No. 10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice, the Committee recommends the State party to bring its juvenile justice system, including in all devolved administrations, the overseas territories and the Crown dependencies, fully into line with the Convention and other relevant standards. In particular, the Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility in accordance with acceptable international standards; (b) Ensure that children in conflict with the law are always dealt with within the juvenile justice system up to the age of 18 years, and that diversion measures do not appear in children’s criminal records; (c) Abolish the mandatory imposition of life imprisonment for children for offences committed while they are under the age of 18; (d) Establish the statutory principle that detention should be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time and ensure that detention is not used discriminatorily against certain groups of children; (e) Ensure that child detainees are separated from adults in all detention settings; (f) Immediately remove all children from solitary confinement, prohibit the use of solitary confinement in all circumstances and regularly inspect the use of segregation and isolation in child detention facilities.