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This chapter describes the background for, and implementation of, the Barnahus model within the Nordic countries. It highlights the core elements of the model and the specifics of the Nordic welfare state context relating to the child welfare and criminal justice systems. A contextual and comparative perspective is used to shed light on how the model is shaped by the legal and institutional context in which it has been implemented. Local adaptions of the Barnahus model, specific to each Nordic country, are also identified. Finally, the outline of the book, containing sixteen chapters divided into four broad themes, is presented.

A key message from this chapter—and the book as such—is that the Nordic Barnahus model is a step in the right direction in terms of meeting victimised children’s needs and legal rights, and that it could be recommended as a promising practice for other countries. At the same time, it is not a quick fix. In light of the book contributions, this chapter discusses the potentials and challenges of the Barnahus model in the Nordic context and beyond. It highlights the importance of the Nordic welfare state context for the implementation of the model and discusses the different modes of governance that have developed around it. The chapter further describes how the implementation of the Barnahus model has led to the development of a new institutional field—the Barnahus field—and a corresponding field of multidisciplinary research.

The child’s right to information is part of the child’s fundamental human right of participation and access to justice according to the CRC. The child’s right to information is also stated in the Swedish national guidelines for Barnahus and in Swedish national law. The child´s right to information is, however, connected to both legal dilemmas and dilemmas in practice. In this chapter, we discuss children’s right to participation from a child rights perspective in a criminal investigation in Barnahus.

This edited collection explores the background and implementation of the Nordic Barnahus (or 'Children's House') model - recognised as one of the most important reforms related to children who are the victims of crime in the Nordic region. This book discusses both its potential to affect change and the challenges facing it. The model was introduced as a response to a growing recognition of the need for more integrated and child-centred services for children exposed to violence and sexual abuse. In the Barnahus structure, different professions work together to ensure that victimized children receive help and treatment and that their legal rights are met. This original study is organised in four broad themes: child-friendliness, support and treatment; the forensic child investigative interview; children's rights perspectives; and interagency collaboration and professional autonomy. Each themed section includes in-depth chapters from different Nordic countries, outlining and analysing the practice and outcomes of the collaborative work engaged in by Barnahus from different perspectives. The introductory and concluding chapters offer a comparative lens useful for policy and practice implementation within the Nordic welfare state context and beyond, ensuring this book has global academic and practical appeal. (Less)

Preface and Acknowledgments Abbreviations Contributors Introduction Part I- Basic Components of Child-friendly Justice Systems A Quarter of a Century with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Mats Melin Children's Rights, Freedom from Violence and Criminal Justice Marta Santos Pais Reflections on Child-friendly Justice Paulo Sergio Pinheiro Best Interests of the Child Jean Zermatten Corporal Punishment, Crime and Human Rights: Lessons for Child-friendly Justice Ashley Stewart-Tufescu & Joan E. Durrant Relational Representation: The Empowerment of Children in Justice Systems Hrefna Fridriksdottir Children's Right to be Heard from Their Unique Perspectives Ann-Christin Cederborg Children's Evidence and the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Improving the Legal System for Children Deborah A. Goldfarb, Gail S. Goodman & Michael J. Lawler Child- Sensitive Justice for Children of Imprisoned Parents Adele Jones & Alex Hirschfield Challenges in Implementing Child Rights - a Call for Innovative Governance for Children Trond Waage Part II- Children and Criminal Justice Systems It Is Not Child-friendly to Make Children Criminals Peter Newell From the Inside - Children and Young People on Life in Police Cells and in Remand Prisons Fredrik Malmberg Without Resorting to Judicial Proceedings': Diversion and Mediation Rusudan Mikhelidze Children's Houses - Barnahus: Today and in the Future Anna Kaldal & Carl Goran Svedin Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime in India Asha Bajpai Evidential Difficulties in Criminal Proceedings Concerning Alleged Child Sexual Abuse against Children with Neuropsychiatric Disorders Katrin Lainpelto Part III- Children and Civil and Administrative Justice Justice for the Migrant Child: The Protective Force of the Convention on the Rights of the Child Mary E. Crock Unaccompanied and Separated Asylum-Seeking Minors: Implementing a Rights-Based Approach in the Asylum Process Rebecca Thorburn Stern The Child's Right to Protection of Private Life and Family Life Elisabeth Gording Stang The Right to a Fair Trial from a Child's Perspective - Reflections from a Comparative Analysis of two Child-protection Systems Pernilla Leviner Part V- Child-friendly Justice: Continental Perspectives Europa: Children and Justice Nils Muiznieks &Francoise Kempf European Court of Human Rights Elisabet Fura Africa: What's in a Name? 'Child friendly' Justice in Africa Julia Sloth-Nielsen Americas: Access to Justice in the Inter-American System: Standards and Challenges Rosa Maria Ortiz

Evaluation of alleged sexual abuse at day-care centres usually has to be based mainly on child statements about their own victimisation. This study points at other possible sources of information. Thus, the child may give contributions to the investigative procedure also as a witness of abuse of other children, as a participator of group interaction related to abuse and as a receiver of a disclosure about abuse from another child. Data are presented from a case where the suspect had confessed. A quarter of the children at the day-care centre had given information about other children's exposure. For more than half of the children, there were witness statements that reflected what these particular children might have been exposed to. Context and statement characteristics seemed to make an evaluation of some of these statements possible. Information about interaction between children and about disclosures between children was strikingly scarce which was probably due to the lack of questions from parents and investigators in these areas. Witness statements from children about other children's exposure to abuse stand out as an interesting complementary source of information in investigations of abuse at day-care centres and may also provide a basis for interpretations at a group level. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper presents a brief overview of the legal theoretical problems that arise in connection with the societal ambition of protecting vulnerable groups. One of the central difficulties in legislation with proactive and therapeutic ambitions arises from the link between law and philosophy of science, i.e., the relationship between facts and norms. It is shown that Therapeutic Jurisprudence differs in several aspects from Swedish legal scholarship that follows Scandinavian Legal Realism. It is also demonstrated that Therapeutic Jurisprudence has several similarities with the so-called Proactive Approach. This paper suggests that Therapeutic Jurisprudence may serve as a useful legal theoretical perspective in Swedish legal scholarship, especially when studying complex and vague regulations with a future focus. Two examples from Swedish legislation are examined: (a) Laws regulating compulsory care of abused or neglected children, and (b) laws related to the mentally ill. This paper illustrates the complexity in these acts, and poses the question of whether the regulations serve their purpose of providing adequate care for and protection of those in need.