A high quality youth lawyer: A must-have for juvenile defendants
Even though significant progress has been made with respect to the training of youth lawyers in Flanders, it cannot be guaranteed that every minor receives high quality legal assistance. This concern can be brought back to two weaknesses. Firstly, not every lawyer who assists minors has been trained to handle juvenile cases. Secondly, there are large differences in the quality of the assistance within the group of trained youth lawyers. This article aims at critically reflecting on these weaknesses in order to meet the need for protection of the rights of minors. It explores how juvenile justice actors feel about mandatory specialisation and quality control of youth lawyers.