Children in contact with the law and customary justice in Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan and Palestine

This report investigates the informal justice system currently operating in targeted areas and aims to understand its impact on child offenders and victims and provide tangible knowledge for practitioners. It presents the results of qualitative researches carried out between 2012 and 2015 in: Afghanistan, Jordan, Egypt and Palestine (Hebron and Gaza). This study illustrates the different sources of law mainly used in informal justice systems such as Shari’a and Urf, sheds light on the role played by multiple actors and stakeholders involved, discusses the relations between informal and formal justice systems and analyzes the interrelations between customary justice and restorative justice responses. It also illustrates some case studies regarding children involved in customary justice procedures. These case studies pinpoint the main stages of customary justice proceedings, underling their limits and impact. Finally, this study provides a right-based analysis of findings. In doing so, it outlines that customary justice does not allocate special procedures for any age group, including children, rather follows general and inherited procedures that are indiscriminately applied to all types of cases and people involved.