Child protection in Lebanon, long marked by structural weaknesses, has been further undermined by successive crises, including the 2019 economic collapse, the Beirut Port explosion, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the escalation of hostilities in 2024. These overlapping shocks have compounded vulnerabilities across an already fragile child protection system, eroding its capacity to prevent and respond to risks facing children, including those in conflict with the law. This policy brief examines the situation of children in conflict with the law, distinct from the broader category of children in contact with the law, and finds that years of government paralysis and deepening economic crisis have hindered the justice system's ability to uphold juvenile justice standards. Since 2019, the Ministry of Justice has suspended systematic data collection on children in conflict with the law due to severe budgetary constraints, leaving no updated national data on caseloads, offense types, or legal outcomes. Drawing on the last available figures and field evidence gathered by the IRC, the brief outlines the structural and socioeconomic factors driving children's involvement in the justice system and presents recommendations to ensure they are better protected and granted meaningful access to justice. Developed with support from the Crisis and Support Center of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

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