Why the rights of the children should come first when jail is considered for the parents

A CENTRAL tenet of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which gained cross-party support in a recent debate at Holyrood, is that "in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration".

Unfortunately, the application of this very laudable principle is not as effective as it could be within Scotland's criminal justice system. As the Children's Commissioner put it recently, the children of offenders often end up as "innocent victims" ...