An Essex Road charity has scooped a coveted award for its “fantastic” contribution towards youth justice.

An Essex Road charity has scooped a coveted award for its “fantastic” contribution towards youth justice.

Just for Kids Law (JfKL) was named Organisation of the Year at the Howard League for Penal Reform Community Awards on Wednesday evening.

The not for profit organisation prides itself on holding power to account, providing legal representation in criminal an immigration cases, while also campaigning to change laws.

JfKL’s chief exec, Enver Solomon, said: “This award is testament to our fantastic work and the progress we have made over the past year.

“We hope it will encourage more organisations, state institutions and policy-makers to look closely at our holistic approach to supporting young people in difficulty.

“It is a great honour to be recognised for our work by an organisation with such a proud history of campaigning for reform to the justice system.”

JfKL has recently issued documents for a judicial review against the Home Office, after it was revealed the Government is allowing children, some younger than 16, to be used as spies in police and secret service investigations.

It’s currently crowdfunding to support the case and has so far raised more than £5,000.

A JfKL spokesperson told the Gazette: “It’s about trying to change the law to best represent the interests of young people.

“One of the big issues we work on is making sure children are still recognised as children in the criminal system, as we’ve noticed that 16 and 17 year olds are often treated as adults.

“In particular, there are legal issues around children who turn 18 during the course of their case and end up sentenced as adults despite being charged as children.”