Placing children in administrative detention rather than recognising that such children are in need of child protection services frequently indicates that the State has a non-existent or poorly developed child protection system and is relying upon institutionalisation as a means of addressing family problems (UNICEF, Ibid). [own emphasis] Is detention at the Feydhoo Finolhu centre legal? For administrative detention to be lawful, the decision to place a child in administrative detention must be made in accordance with a State’s domestic law. The UN Human Rights Committee has stated that ‘the principle of legality is violated if an individual is arrested on grounds which are not clearly established in domestic legislation’ (UN. Doc. CCPR/C/60/D/702/1996, 1997, para 5.5) At the top of the JJU’s mandate and agenda is ‘formulation of national policies regarding children who come into conflict with the law’ [own emphasis]. The mandate also states as the purpose of the JJU as providing ‘technical support and advice to the Detention centre established for children who are sentenced to detention [own emphasis].’ The children detained at Feydhoo Finolhu are not juvenile offenders. The Beijing Rules for example, which JJU officials highlighted during interviews as one its guiding principles, (Article 2.2) provides the following definitions: A juvenile is child or young person who, under the respective legal systems, can be dealt with for an offence in a manner which is different from an adult; [own emphasis] An offence is any behaviour (act or omission) that is punishable by law under the respective legal systems; A juvenile offender is a child or young person who is alleged to have committed or who has been found to have committed an offence. [own emphasis] In light of this definition, and the stated purposes of the JJU, detaining children at Feydhoo Finolhu who have neither been sentenced nor charged with an offence, and are not formally in conflict with the law, the JJU can be seen as going beyond its mandate. Article 37(b) of the UNCRC and other UN documents discussed above state that detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law. The Home Ministry’s Regulations on Isolation of Children from Society for the Purposes of Reform was enacted in August 2010, exactly a year after the centre began operating unofficially and a month after it was officially opened. Meaning that whatever legal basis it has was formed after the event. 60