The Centre for Children’s Rights welcomes Marta Basile who is  a visiting Ph.D. student in Political Sciences from the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Catania, Italy.

Prior to her PhD studies Marta attained a Master’  degree in Sociology and Social Research and two postgraduate diplomas (Marketing and Digital Communication; Human Resources).

Marta’s main interests are in the fields of children’s rights, youth justice, criminal justice, youth offending, unaccompanied migrant minors, and "special orphans" (orphans of domestic crimes and gender-based violence).

Her current research project involves a comparative and qualitative study on the ‘Best Interests of the Child’ in Italy and Northern Ireland. The aim  of the research is to assess the similarities and differences presented by the two jurisdictions in the application of the ‘best interests’ in the decision-making process, with a particular focus on the sentencing of young people in the youth justice system.