Customary justice for children in Egypt: an overview of the situation in the Governorate of Assyut

Abstract

This article analyses the profile of the criminal cases that are handled by the customary justice system for children in one governorate of Egypt. Data were collected during seventeen months through monthly semi-directive interviews with fourteen arbitrators. This provided information on 244 customary justice proceedings involving 296 children. The study is focused on 197 children, involved in 168 criminal cases. The analysis allows a description of the kind of offences treated, the distribution of presumed offenders and victims by gender, age and offence, the duration of the proceedings and the final outcome. The research shows that, in spite of decades of colonisation, old customary justice practices play a major role in Egypt today. Thus, customary justice, which has been elsewhere the source of many modern approaches to restorative justice, coexists in Egypt alongside Western-imported retributive criminal justice and a juvenile justice system that attempts to adhere to international standards.