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This paper develops a theoretical approach to children's rights in youth justice, located within a wider rights‐based theory of criminal justice which emphasises the centrality of citizens' autonomy. Understanding what is special about children's rights in the youth justice system requires an understanding of how children's autonomy differs from that of adults. One difference is that within the legal system children are not considered to be fully autonomous rights‐holders, because childhood is a time for gathering and developing the assets necessary for full autonomy. These assets should be protected by a category of ‘foundational’ rights. It is argued that an essential component of a rights‐based penal system for children is that it should not irreparably or permanently harm the child's foundational rights. The concept of foundational rights can then underpin and strengthen international children's rights standards, including those relating to the minimum age of criminal responsibility, differential sentencing for children and adults and a rights‐based system of resettlement provision.

The role of independent institutions, the relationship between independence and accountability, and the meaning and significance of these concepts in terms of democratic ideals, are issues that constitutional analysis of modem government can hardly avoid. The institutions and practice of government audit provide concrete illustrations of the complexities and dilemmas involved in such analysis.Auditors themselves conventionally distinguish internal from external audit. A widely accepted definition is that external audit means the examination of accounts and other activities, conducted from outside an organisation by an independent review body for the purpose of holding managers to account. In contrast, internal audit takes place within an organisation, to review accounting and other operations as a service to management. An internal audit unit normally operates separately from those within the organisation who are responsible for the activities under review.