Towards Child-Centred Justice as a System Level Paradigm Shift
Thu 21 May 2026 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM BST Online, MS Teams
Summary:
Child-centred justice represents a paradigm shift: moving beyond systems that merely adapt procedures for children, towards systems fundamentally designed around children's rights, developmental needs and lived experiences.
In this webinar, speakers will define child-centred justice as a system-level approach and explore its key features, including its solution-oriented framework, emphasis on multi-agency coordination, and commitment to meaningful child participation.
Drawing on Scotland's Whole System Approach as a practice-informed case study, the webinar will demonstrate how child-centred justice principles can be operationalised across policing, prosecution, care and custody; offering transferable lessons for jurisdictions seeking to translate children's rights into justice practice.
Bios:
Cédric Foussard
Cédric Foussard is an international expert in the field of justice for children, renowned for his expertise on a global scale. Currently serving as the coordinator of the Global Initiative on Justice With Children, Foussard also holds the position of Advocacy and Global Learning Senior Advisor at the Access to Justice for Children Programme within the Terre des Hommes Foundation. With nearly two decades of leadership at an international foundation dedicated to child justice, headquartered in Brussels, Foussard has been instrumental in shaping the discourse and policies surrounding child rights globally, particularly for children in contact with the justice systems.
Foussard’s work encompasses investigation and advocacy efforts, with a focus on fostering a holistic approach to child rights. Through various literary contributions, including articles and books addressing prevalent trends and challenges in child justice, he endeavours to amplify the voices of vulnerable children worldwide. He is the coordinator of the World Congress on Justice With Children.
Professor Fiona Dyer
As Director of the Children and Young People's Centre for Justice (CYCJ), Fiona leads the centre towards its ambition of ensuring that Scotland’s approach to children and young people in conflict with the law is rights-respecting, contributing to better outcomes for children, young people and communities. This involves supporting professionals from all disciplines who work with children and young people on the cusp of or involved in offending by promoting best practice based on up-to-date evidence and research.
Prior to and since joining CYCJ in 2013, Fiona has been committed to ensuring the rights of children in conflict with the law are upheld. Her aim is to provide leadership across all sectors where children are involved to ensure children are treated as children. Her work to date includes the Expert Group on Preventing Sexual Offending Involving Children and Young People, Expert Review on Mental Health and Young Offenders, Age of Criminal Responsibility, Independent Group to review Antisocial Behaviour, Restorative Justice, Children’s Rights and supporting the work of the Youth Justice Improvement Board. Fiona currently chairs the Age of Criminal Responsibility Data and Research Group, Police Custody and Children’s Rights Group.
Before joining CYCJ Fiona was seconded to the Scottish Government youth justice team for three years as a professional social work advisor to lead on the Scottish Government policy of the Whole System Approach, which was implemented across Scotland. Prior to this, she worked for ten years as a social worker and social work manager within the fields of youth and criminal justice within rural and urban areas of Scotland. Fiona is a member of Social Work Scotland.
Important Info:
This webinar will be recorded and shared on the CYCJ website. Cameras and mics will be switched off to all attendees, only the speakers and organisers of the event will have their cameras on. If you have any questions throughout the webinar you will be able to add them into the chat and the speakers will try to answer as many as possible at the end.
All registered attendees will be contacted with team's link 24 hours before each session. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact cycj@strath.ac.uk.
To keep up to date on all CYCJ events you can sign up for our monthly e-bulletin here - http://eepurl.com/dvyBuv
