Haruv institute - Leading Principles in Trauma-Informed Child Representation

Leading Principles in Trauma-Informed Child Representation

Introduction

Every year, in Israel, we receive tens of thousands of reports about children who are at high risk or children who are victims of crimes. The Legal Aid Child Representation Unit (CRU), “A Lawyer of My Own,” within the Ministry of Justice, is entrusted with the delicate and complex process of representing these children in various legal proceedings, and promoting their rights, well-being, and welfare. The lawyers representing children on behalf of the CRU stand at a complex and challenging intersection between trauma and justice. On the one hand, children represented by the CRU have often experienced severe traumatic life events affecting their entire existence – their cognitive abilities and executive functioning, their ability to remember and recall memories, and their ability to regulate their emotions. On the other hand, these children face a legal proceeding that relies on evidence, rigid laws, and a dichotomous worldview (guilty or not guilty / good or bad / alternative care or community care). Addressing the legal proceedings through the prism of trauma is critical to enable children’s beneficial and effective participation in the justice system and to ensure that decisions made in their case promote their best interests. Children’s direct participation in legal proceedings must be adapted to their needs, derived from various displays of trauma.

5