Dr. Mary-Louise Corr and Dr. Amy Hanna (Strathclyde) spoke at the launch of report The Use of Secure Accommodation Orders in Jersey: Research, Findings and Recommendations, published by the Office of the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Jersey on 30th June 2023. Corr and Hanna presented their research on children’s experiences of Secure Accommodation Orders in Jersey which was used to inform the Commissioner’s larger report, alongside a legislative analysis conducted by Dr Elina Steinerte. The event was attended by a number of senior civil servants and representatives of the Government of Jersey. 

Corr and Hanna’s research found that concerns for children in secure accommodation in Jersey centred around 6 themes: children not being listened to; deficit perceptions of children; a lack of information sharing; isolation and loneliness; education provision; and the use of language around secure accommodation. Despite a Review of Greenfields Secure Unit in 2019 noting that the unit is ‘broadly compliant with the UNCRC’, the research identified a wider range of concerns with implications for a number of children’s rights including their rights to: participate and be heard in proceedings; express their views freely in all matters affecting them; privacy; be treated with humanity and respect whilst deprived of liberty; education; protection from violence; rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities. 

The research has informed a number of recommendations by the Office of the Commissioner for Children and Young People which require amendments to Jersey Law and a deeper understanding of children’s rights calling the Government of Jersey to “embed child-centred, human rights based approach and framework, and ensure that children and young people will only ever be deprived of their liberty, in any setting, as a protective measure of last resort, for the minimum period of time, proportionate, necessary, and in accordance with international, human rights law and standards”.