Juvenile justice administration in Zambia: How effective does it reach out to its intended targets

Abstract

Children are the most important segment of society because in them lies the future. However in past years questions arose as to how children should be treated upon them infringing the law.The ultimate result was that children be given different sanctions from that administered on adult offenders. This was due to the realization that unlike adults, children were fragile beings in whom reality and fantasy had not yet been separated; therefore reformation was only key to preserve the future that lay in them.This academic work elicits information on juvenile justice in Zambia and how effective it reaches out to its intended targets.In doing so, this paper commences with the definition of a juvenile, and the law applicable to juveniles in Zambia. Secondly the paper brings out the institutions handling juvenile cases and problems faced by members of staff. The gaps in domestic and international institutions of juvenile justice have also been drawn.The paper has also focused on a case study of the Nakambala reformatory school and the policies pertaining to juvenile justice in Zambia.Lastly a conclusion and recommendations have been given based on the analysis of the data.