Diversion
Definition
Handling a child's case outside formal judicial proceedings, for example through caution, mediation or community-based measures, so that the criminal process itself is avoided wherever appropriate.
Related terms
- Beijing Rules
- The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, adopted by General Assembly resolution 40/33 on 29 November 1985,...
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- The binding UN treaty adopted in 1989, whose Article 37 and Article 40 state a child's rights when deprived of liberty and...
- Developmental Prevention
- Prevention timed to specific developmental stages, such as infancy, early childhood or the transition to adolescence, on the premise that risk factors...
- Havana Rules
- The United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/113 on 14 December...
- Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility
- The age below which a state treats a child as incapable of criminal intent, fixed differently in each domestic system but subject...
- Primary Prevention
- Universal measures aimed at an entire population or community, delivered before any risk has been identified in a specific child.
- Risk and Protective Factors
- Measurable individual, family, peer, school and community conditions that longitudinal research links to a raised or lowered likelihood of offending.
- Riyadh Guidelines
- The United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/112 on 14 December 1990, setting out...
- Secondary Prevention
- Targeted measures aimed at children already showing elevated risk factors or early problem behaviour, before formal offending begins.
- Tertiary Prevention
- Measures aimed at children who have already offended, intended to stop reoffending and support desistance.
Explained in these topics
- International Standards in Juvenile Justice: the Beijing Rules and the Riyadh Guidelines
- Prevention of Juvenile DelinquencyRedirecting a child, usually a first-time or low-risk offender, away from formal court processing and into a community-based or restorative response.