Model of Response to Juvenile Delinquency in the Afghan Criminal Justice System

Abstract

The way of responding to and dealing with juvenile delinquency has engaged criminal justice systems and policymakers for at least a century. On the one hand, the psychological sensitivities of children and, on the other hand, the defense of social order and addressing unlawful behaviors have made defining and establishing a response system to juvenile delinquency significantly important and sensitive. The multiplicity and diversity of response models to juvenile delinquency indicate the significance of this issue. The prevailing models in juvenile justice systems can be divided into at least five categories: restorative justice model, criminal justice model, minimal intervention model, risk management model, and welfare model. This research aims to provide a brief overview of the aforementioned models while detailing and analyzing the response model of the Afghan criminal justice system to juvenile delinquency. An examination of Afghan criminal laws that refer to juvenile offenses, especially the Law on the Handling of Juvenile Offenders and the Penal Code of 1396 Afghanistan, indicates that while the Afghan criminal justice system pays attention to the restorative justice model in some cases, it primarily relies on the minimal intervention model. Therefore, criminal intervention and the use of punitive measures in the Afghan criminal justice system concerning delinquent children are considered the last resort, applied only in the most critical cases that necessitate it.