CRC/C/GC/24 I. Introduction 1. This general comment is a revision of general comment No. 10, which was adopted in 2007. It reflects the developments that have occurred during the intervening decade through the promulgation of various resolutions and other guiding documents on violence against children in juvenile justice, the knowledge about child and adolescent development, the Committee’s own jurisprudence and various concerns, including negative trends relating to the minimum age of criminal responsibility and the persistent use of deprivation of liberty, and emerging issues, such as children recruited and used by non-State armed groups, or terrorist or violent extremist groups, and children in customary justice systems. 2. The Committee acknowledges that the preservation of public safety is a legitimate aim of the justice system, including the juvenile justice system. However, in the Committee’s view this aim is best served by full respect for and implementation of the principles of juvenile justice as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereafter: CRC). The present general comment replaces the original general comment No. 10 (2007), and preserves the same spirit and philosophy. 3. The Committee notes with appreciation the many efforts to establish juvenile justice systems in compliance with CRC. However, it is also clear that many States parties still have a long way to go in achieving full compliance, in particular in the areas of prevention, the development and expansive implementation of diversion measures, the setting of an appropriate minimum age of criminal responsibility, and ensuring the use of deprivation of liberty only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. 4. In the years since general comment No. 10 (2007) was adopted, several declarations and guidelines have been adopted by international and regional bodies, which promote access to justice and child-friendly justice. These frameworks are broader in scope than children in conflict with the law, as they include children in all aspects of the justice systems, including child victims and witnesses of crime, and children in welfare proceedings and before administrative tribunals. These developments, valuable though they are, fall outside of the scope of this revised general comment. II. The objectives of the present general comment 5. The objectives of the present general comment are: • To underscore that the CRC requirement to develop and implement a comprehensive juvenile justice policy should not be limited to the implementation of the specific provisions contained in articles 37 and 40 of CRC, but should also take into account the general principles enshrined in articles 2, 3, 6 and 12, and in all other relevant articles of CRC, such as articles 4 and 39; • To provide clarity on the setting of a minimum age of criminal responsibility, the upper age limit of the juvenile justice system, and related matters; • To encourage the establishment and full implementation of alternative measures that can be applied at all stages of the process; • To ensure the guarantees for a fair trial for those children who are not diverted to alternative measures and to ensure the application of appropriate dispositions for children who are convicted and the avoidance of deprivation of liberty, except as a measure of last resort, and if used, for the shortest appropriate period of time and in appropriate conditions. III. Terminology 6. The main terms used in the international normative framework of juvenile justice: Children in conflict with the law: children alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law; 3