Working with the National Organisation for Legal Assistance, a Tanzanian NGO, Coram International undertook this study in 2011 along with another on access to justice for children in Tanzania.
This study and the related study on access to justice for children were initiated by the Tanzanian Ministry for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, in collaboration with UNICEF, in order to inform its strategy for reform of the child justice system, on which Coram International also worked. This research covered: the extent and nature of child offending in Tanzania, along with the characteristics of child offenders and risk factors for children coming into conflict with the law; specialisation, capacity and coordination of juvenile justice institutions; children who are exposed to the criminal justice system, including treatment of children below the minimum age of criminal responsibility; arrest procedures and implementation of children’s rights during arrest and police detention; diversion; the process and implementation of children’s rights during charge and trial; the sentencing of children; the protection of the rights of children in detention; and rehabilitative support while children are in detention and support to reintegrate upon release.