UCC hosts online panel conversation on the sentencing of children for serious offences

8 Aug 2025

In May, the Centre for Children’s Rights and Family law hosted an online panel discussion on the sentencing of children for serious offences. 

Prompted by the Irish Supreme Court’s decision in DPP v CC, we hosted national and international experts to discuss global trends and the shape of a principled approach to this group.  

Panelists discussed how murders perpetrated by children or young people are amongst the highest profile and traumatic issues that the criminal justice system must address. Quite often, such cases involve situations where both the perpetrator and the victim are children or young people. Such children or young people frequently have multiple and interlapping statuses and can be simultaneously our most vulnerable and our most challenging cases. Although such cases are relatively rare, they attract significant public interest and concern. Globally, the treatment of homicide by young defendants often involves whole or partial exclusion from the protections and procedures of the youth justice system.  

The panel was chaired by Nessa Lynch, professor of Law School of Law, UCC, an expert in youth justice. 

Panelists were: 

Fiona Guy-Kidd KC, senior criminal defence barrister, of Montrose Chambers and Bridgeside Chambers in New Zealand, and counsel in the Dickey v R appeal which influenced the decision in DPP v CC. 

Cliodhna Buckley BL, graduate of UCC, Irish barrister  specializing in criminal law, and counsel in the DPP v CC case. 

Ian Lambie, professor of psychology at the University of Auckland, and a former Chief Science Advisor to the Justice Sector in New Zealand, an expert in youth psychology and youth offending. 

Conor O’ Mahony, Dean of Law and professor of law at UCC, specializing in the interface between children’s rights and constitutional law. 

Ursula Kilkelly, professor of law and VP Global Engagement at UCC, a leading global expert in youth justice and children’s rights. 

Elizabeth Graty-Hood, who is a researcher at the School of Law. 

Marsha Levick, Chief Legal Officer of Juvenile Law Centre in the United States provided a bonus interview. 

The recordings can be found here:

School of Law academics have published widely in this area, and their work has informed some of these global sentencing decisions. A summary of the panel discussion appeared in the journal Youth Justice, which Professor Lynch now co-edits, taking over from Professor Kilkelly. 

For further information/research:  

• Lynch, Nessa, and Ton Liefaard. "What is left in the “too hard basket”? Developments and challenges for the rights of children in conflict with the law." The International Journal of Children's Rights 28, no. 1 (2020): 89-110. 

• Van Den Brink, Yannick, and Nessa Lynch. "Beyond the life sentence–A children’s rights lens on sentencing for murder." The International Journal of Children's Rights 29, no. 4 (2021): 972-1005. 

• Lynch, Nessa, Yannick van den Brink, and Louise Forde, eds. Responses to serious offending by children: Principles, practice and global perspectives. Taylor & Francis, 2022. 

• Conor O’Mahony, 'Why Children Should Have Constitutional Rights of Their Own' (2025) International Journal of Constitutional Law (forthcoming) 

• Advancing Children's Rights in Detention: A Model for International Reform. 
  Ursula Kilkelly and Pat Bergin, Advancing Children's Rights in Detention: A Model for International Reform (Bristol University Press 2021) 

• Ursula Kilkelly, Louise Forde, Sharon Lambert, Katarina Swirak, Children in Conflict with the Law: Rights, Research and Progressive Youth Justice  (Palgrave Macmillan 2023)  

• Ursula Kilkelly, ‘Vulnerability Denied: The Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law’ in Perspectives on Children, Rights, and Vulnerability (Scandinavian University Press 2025)