Learning
Explore our training materials on the core skills required to be a lawyer for children.
Curriculum
Explore our online learning materials on the core skills required to be a lawyer for children. These materials are foundational, please contact the Child Law Network members about further training.
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Lawyers for children should be specialists, trained and skilled to undertake the work required to represent children. This module looks at the law across the UK, what good quality legal representation for children looks like and how to take a holistic approach.
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What professionals working with children in contact with the law need to know. Attachment theory, brain development, competency & capacity and instructing experts is all important foundational information for the successful representation of children.
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A lawyer for children needs to understand trauma. Many children going through the justice system have experienced trauma already, and are then re-traumatised by the process. Lawyers for children need to be able to identify the signs of trauma and to develop a trauma informed practice to get better outcomes.
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See the different ways in which the law intersects with the health of children. The legal frameworks governing decisions around medical choices and mental health care for children are complex. A number of children throughout the justice system are victims of exploitation The law offers special protections to child victims of trafficking and exploitation and lawyers need to understand this niche area or practice.
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Children who are disabled have additional rights, protections and legal entitlements. Once a disability is identified, the rights, which arise from a wide variety of sources, govern access to education and healthcare.
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Children’s right to be free from discrimination is protected in law. Like adults, children experience bias based on their age, race and gender and sexual orientation. Lawyers need an understanding of the legal landscape as well as the issues from the perspective of children.
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Effective communication with children in contact with the law helps them understand and engage with legal proceedings. This module, developed with communication experts, offers visual aids and communication tools for lawyers to use with young clients.
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In this section we will look at alternative and new ways to ensure better experiences for children in contact with the law. The successful representation of children often requires an innovative approach. Procedural justice and relational and strength based approaches are explored here.
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Children should be able to participate in legal proceedings if they wish. Practitioners should develop their understanding of participation and what it means to integrate this into their representation. Participation can mean different things and lawyers need for children need to understand the detail in order to facilitate genuine participation.
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The lawyer / client and the adult / child dynamic are complex. How children experience professionals impacts they interact with the proceedings. This module looks at safeguarding and intergenerational working as well as when a child has a case with issues transcending different areas of law.
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The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international convention with 54 Articles that cover all aspects of a child’s life and set out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to. Learn about the different rights the convention gives rise to and how these interact with domestic legislation.
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The term ‘deprivation of liberty’ comes from Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides that everyone, of whatever age, has the right to liberty. A deprivation of liberty occurs when restrictions are placed on a child’s liberty beyond what would normally be expected for a child of the same age. This may include them being kept in a locked environment that they are not free to leave, being kept under continuous supervision, and subject to restraint or medical treatment without consent.
Publications
