Join us for our 4 upcoming online training events to give you tools to fight against racial injustice when representing Black, Brown and Racialised Children & Young People in the criminal justice system.
19 May 2022 5 – 7 pm: What kids want from their lawyers, how to address Bias and Adultification
Speakers
Aika Stephenson (Chair), Co-founder & Legal Director, Just for Kids Law
Aika is the co-founder and legal director of Just for Kids Law. Aika is a solicitor and youth justice expert with many years’ experience representing young people in criminal proceedings and particularly those with Special Educational Needs.
Kristin Henning, Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Centre
Kris Henning is currently a Professor at Georgetown University Law Centre where she is Deputy Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic. Kris is best known for her work in juvenile defence and for her critically acclaimed book, The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth.
Renaldho Pelle, Director, Animator & Illustrator
BAFTA-nominated director, animator & illustrator working in 2D digital/traditional animation, storyboarding, character design and illustration. Director and animator of Judged – a short film made by YJLC and a group of young people about what it feels like to be a kid going to court.
Jahnine Davis, Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel Member
Jahnine Davis is one of the UK’s leading specialists in the safeguarding of Black children – with a core focus on adultification bias. Jahnine's PhD research explores safeguarding responses to Black children when harm is outside of the home. Jahnine has over 20 years’ experience of working in both the charitable and statutory safeguarding arenas. This includes her current role as a member of the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. Jahnine is the Co-Founder and Director of Listen Up, a company established to amplify lesser heard voices in child safeguarding research, practice, and policy.
Joanne Cecil, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Joanne Cecil is a barrister at Garden Court Chambers. She has a mixed public law and criminal practice, with particular expertise in child rights and youth justice. She has a wealth of experience in representing children and she is renowned for having been instructed in many test cases relating to children in the criminal justice system.
Join us on 19 May
Register for 'What kids want from their lawyers, how to address Bias and Adultification'
26 May 2022 5 – 7 pm: Racism at the Police Station, Diversion & Racial Trauma
Speakers
Aika Stephenson (Chair), Co-founder & Legal Director, Just for Kids Law
Aika is the co-founder and legal director of Just for Kids Law. Aika is a solicitor and youth justice expert with many years’ experience representing young people in criminal proceedings and particularly those with Special Educational Needs.
Sandra Paul, Solicitor, Legal Action Group - Defending Suspects at Police Stations and Kingsley Napley
Sandra Paul is a partner at the law firm Kingsley Napley and a member of the YJLC Advisory Board. Sandra is particularly experienced with navigating children and young adults safely through the justice system.
Matthew Hardcastle, Solicitor, Legal Action Group - Defending Suspects at Police Stations and Kingsley Napley
Matthew is a specialist in pre-charge investigations and litigation. Before joining Kingsley Napley, Matthew was a duty solicitor at a busy east-end firm.
Dr. Aaron Reliford, Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Dept Child & Adol Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health
Aaron Reliford, MD, is Vice-Chair for Diversity Equity and Inclusion and associate clinical professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Training Director at NYU, and both the Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Associate Medical Director of Behavioral Health Sunset Terrace Family Health Center of NYU Langone Brooklyn.
Bami Jolaoso, Innovative Practice Officer at the Centre of Justice Innovation
Bami works collaboratively with practitioners and police to support and enhance innovations currently taking place within the Criminal Justice System, particularly within youth and adult diversion. Bami has frontline experience working as a warranted police officer for the Metropolitan Police and as a caseworker for a gangs and violence prevention charity.
Shamik Dutta, Solicitor, Bhatt Murphy
Shamik Dutta specialises in pursuing civil claims and public law challenges against the police and in enforcing the rights of those subject to unlawful immigration detention and unlawful deportation. He also acts for the families of individuals who have died in police and prison service custody. He is currently instructed by more than 40 bereaved families, survivors and residents in the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry and associated legal proceedings related to the fire on 14 June 2017.
09 June 5 – 7 pm: Child Criminal Exploitation, Race and Bail & Remand, Race and Sentencing
Speakers
Shauneen Lambe (Chair), Barrister and Attorney, Social Entrepreneur and CEO
Shauneen is a barrister and attorney, social entrepreneur, and CEO whose strategic litigation work has changed the law 4 times in the past 4 years. A true legal innovator dedicated to the law being a tool for social change, Shauneen has established numerous ground-breaking projects and organisations.
Aika Stephenson, Co-founder & Legal Director, Just for Kids Law
Aika is the co-founder and legal director of Just for Kids Law. Aika is a solicitor and youth justice expert with many years’ experience representing young people in criminal proceedings and particularly those with Special Educational Needs.
Dr Grace Robinson, Founder and CEO of Black Box Research & Consultancy
Grace is the Founder and CEO of Black Box Research and Consultancy. She has worked on over 100 Modern Slavery cases nationally, comprising drugs and weapon offences, fraud, burglary and robbery. Having completed her Ph.D on Urban Street Gangs, Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines in Merseyside, Grace is able to offer contemporary insights into an area with little existing literature.
Danielle Manson, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Danielle Manson represents defendants in all areas of criminal law and associated work. She has particular expertise in representing children and young people.
Garry Green, Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers
Garry is a member of Doughty Street Chambers. He has a strong sense of social justice and his connection to local marginalised communities remains constant. He works for an array of voluntary grassroots organisations and is especially passionate about the welfare of children and young people. Garry’s principal practice is in crime, his experience is second to none and has been honed over many years of practice in many important and high profile cases.
Join us on 9 June
Register for 'Child Criminal Exploitation, Race and Bail & Remand, Race and Sentencing'
21 June 5 – 7 pm: Joint Enterprise, evidence of Gang Affiliation, Rap & Drill, the Gang’s Matrix, US v UK
Speakers
Aika Stephenson (Chair), Co-founder & Legal Director, Just for Kids Law
Aika is the co-founder and legal director of Just for Kids Law. Aika is a solicitor and youth justice expert with many years’ experience representing young people in criminal proceedings and particularly those with Special Educational Needs.
Keir Monteith QC, Queen’s counsel, Garden Court Chambers
Keir Monteith QC is a member of Garden Court Chambers and is a highly sought-after leading silk who represents clients facing heavyweight criminal allegations. He has defended in numerous murders, industrial-scale Class A drug importations, high profile National Crime Agency cases, £100M frauds, multi-million-pound confiscations and heavily armed Organised Crime Group conspiracies.
Eithne Quinn, Author - Nuthin' but a "G" Thang: The Culture and Commerce of Gangsta Rap (Columbia University Press, 2005)
Eithne Quinn is a Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Manchester. She is the author of Nuthin' but a "G" Thang: The Culture and Commerce of Gangsta Rap (Columbia, 2005) and led the Arts & Humanities Research Council project Prosecuting Rap: Criminal Justice and UK Black Youth Expressive Culture (2020-21).
Lana Adamou, Solicitor, Liberty
Lana specialises in challenging discriminatory police powers, and unfairness in the criminal justice system. She has helped a wide-range of clients to uphold their human rights and civil liberties, including bereaved families, protestors, over-policed young people, and victims of serious crime.
Zehrah Hasan, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Zehrah has been a tenant at Garden Court Chambers since October 2020. She practises in public, human rights, immigration and asylum law – with a particular specialism in representing survivors of gender-based violence, trafficking and exploitation.
Kusai Rahal, Head of Youth Support, The 4Front Project
Kusai Rahal is the Head of Youth Support at The 4Front Project, a member-led youth organisation empowering young people and communities to fight for justice, peace and freedom. Kusai has significant experience working directly with children and young people affected by violence and the criminal justice system. His work also focuses on supporting young men mentalise and develop their emotional capacity to process adversity and trauma.
Join us on 21 June
Register for 'Joint Enterprise, evidence of Gang Affiliation, Rap & Drill, the Gang’s Matrix, US v UK'