Child Status and Educational Continuity tn The Juvenile Criminal Justice System

Abstract

Juvenile criminal proceedings may disrupt a child's education through examination, relocation, detention, institutional transfer, or the execution of a sentence. Protecting educational continuity therefore requires a differentiated approach to children in conflict with the law, child victims, and child witnesses, with attention to procedural stage and individual circumstances. This article examines how legal status and procedural stage shape educational obligations and proposes an educational continuity framework as a coordination instrument. Using normative legal research with statutory and conceptual approaches, the study examines the 1945 Constitution, Law No. 20 of 2003, Law No. 11 of 2012, Law No. 22 of 2022, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, international child-justice standards, and relevant literature available through 2024. The analysis finds that the right to education continues throughout criminal justice processes, while responsible actors, service arrangements, and forms of support vary by status and stage. Diversion remains subject to statutory conditions, and educational arrangements in LPAS and LPKA are distinct from the support required by child victims and witnesses. The article's original contribution is an educational continuity framework integrating legal status, learning needs, responsible actors, service transitions, follow-up, and proportionate information sharing. The framework seeks to connect procedural safeguards with sustained learning while preserving dignity, confidentiality, the presumption of innocence, and the child's best interests.