Executive Summary

This research paper examines and analyses the state of juvenile justice in Yemen during the period of armed conflict (2014–2026), focusing on its legislative framework, institutional structure, and the multifaceted challenges affecting the juvenile justice system. It analyses actual judicial practices concerning children in conflict with the law by examining the handling of juvenile cases by judicial authorities and care and rehabilitation institutions through selected cases involving accused or convicted juveniles who progressed through the various stages of criminal proceedings—including arrest, investigation, trial, and the implementation of judicial measures following conviction. The paper seeks to identify the procedural violations and irregularities accompanying the legal accountability process for children, as well as the patterns of conduct constituting violations of their rights. Its objective is to assess the effectiveness of the judicial and legal protection system governing juvenile justice, identify its procedural and institutional shortcomings, determine the gap between the law and its practical implementation, analyse the obstacles hindering the application of legal rules, standards, and procedures relating to juvenile justice, and propose practical recommendations to inform the institutional reform requirements and future development of a specialised juvenile justice system in Yemen.

The paper is based on qualitative information obtained from accused and convicted juveniles, their family members, and their legal representatives regarding the legal proceedings they underwent before judicial bodies responsible for juvenile cases in the governorates of Sana'a, Aden, Al Hudaydah, Hadhramaut, Taiz, Marib, Ibb, Dhamar, and Saadah. It also draws on information from a broad range of stakeholders involved in or concerned with juvenile justice, including juvenile court judges, juvenile prosecutors, social experts, specialists and administrators of juvenile care institutions, relevant government authorities, and civil society organizations working on children's issues. Individual interviews were used as the primary field research method for collecting data from these sources.

Although Yemen's juvenile justice legislation is broadly consistent with international legal instruments regarding the fundamental principles, standards, and safeguards protecting children's rights and ensuring fair and equitable trials for accused or convicted juveniles, several areas remain inconsistent with international standards. Most notably, Yemeni law defines the maximum age of a juvenile as fifteen years, contrary to the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, which define a juvenile as any person under the age of eighteen. Yemeni legislation also establishes a notably low minimum age of criminal responsibility at seven years. Furthermore, Yemeni law does not explicitly guarantee a juvenile's right to legal counsel or legal assistance immediately upon arrest, nor does it require the presence of a social worker as a condition for the validity of preliminary investigative procedures.

The juvenile justice system consists of a wide range of judicial, social, and administrative institutions whose respective mandates are clearly defined under Yemeni legislation. These include juvenile courts, juvenile prosecution offices, juvenile police, juvenile care and guidance institutions, Family Protection Departments, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, the Technical Committee of the Ministry of Justice, case management offices, the Child Department within the Ministry of Interior, and the General Directorate for Family Protection, among others. The ability of these institutions to perform their judicial, rehabilitative, and corrective functions has been significantly affected by the political, security, and economic conditions resulting from the armed conflict, as well as by broader institutional weaknesses. Although the severity of these effects varies among institutions and across governorates—and in some cases even within the same governorate—the lack of an integrated institutional infrastructure for juvenile justice, the absence of effective institutional alternatives, the acute shortage of specialised personnel, limited specialised continuing training, weak judicial oversight, the absence of accountability mechanisms, and inadequate coordination among relevant institutions constitute common structural characteristics of Yemen's juvenile justice system throughout the conflict. These deficiencies substantially undermine the system's ability to deliver fair, humane, and child-centred justice.

In practice, there exists a significant gap between the law and its implementation with respect to the rights and procedural safeguards afforded to accused and convicted juveniles throughout all stages of criminal proceedings. Many of these rights are routinely undermined through procedural violations and practices that constitute breaches of the Juvenile Welfare Law, the broader national legal framework, and applicable international standards. According to many of the respondents interviewed for this study—including judges, juvenile prosecutors, social experts, lawyers, and social work specialists—this implementation gap is most pronounced during the initial stages of criminal proceedings, particularly the arrest and evidence-gathering phase, which is often conducted by authorities lacking jurisdiction over juvenile cases. A similarly critical deficiency exists during the enforcement of judicial decisions, including both protective measures and criminal sanctions. In both stages, a common underlying challenge is the near-complete absence of specialised institutional structures capable of handling juveniles in a manner appropriate to their age, legal status, and particular vulnerabilities, as well as the lack of adequately equipped juvenile care institutions capable of fulfilling the rehabilitative and educational objectives underlying judicial measures and sentences imposed on children.

Although the later stages of criminal proceedings—including prosecution investigations, trial proceedings, and judicial decision-making—are also affected by procedural irregularities and occasional violations of legal safeguards protecting accused and convicted juveniles, respondents consistently indicated that judicial practice during the investigation and trial phases demonstrates comparatively greater adherence to the legal and procedural guarantees afforded to children than is observed during the arrest and enforcement stages. Nevertheless, the extent of compliance varies considerably across governorates and, in some cases, within individual governorates themselves. Overall, the findings derived from interviews with juveniles, together with the documented field cases and evidence examined in this study, corroborate the assessments provided by the expert respondents and practitioners interviewed during the research.

‍