Child-friendly pre-trial gaming systems: turning law, practice, theory, and professionals’ experiences into psychoeducational tools

The EU and UK are calling for child-friendly justice. Yet existing adult-oriented practices disrupt justice and increase children’s trauma. We developed a psychoeducational template of a child-friendly gaming system designed for children’s court preparation. We reviewed: (a) guidelines for psychometrics tests, (b) international, Cypriot, English and Scottish law, (c) psychoeducational programmes in the US, and, (d) the Gestalt Play Therapy, Child Centred Play Therapy and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and incorporated them into practical legal approaches. Then, we conducted in-depth interviews with multinational experts discussing professionals’ and children’s needs. Building on the Polyvagal Theory and past issues, our data also support reforming children’s court preparation. Effective common cross-national practices were applied. But inconsistent support led to children’s problematic unequal court preparation. Experts’ feedback contributed to having a user-centred gaming context. We summarise our review and experts’ input into an Open-Adapt Pre-trial Gaming Template for pre-trial gaming systems, adaptable to various legal contexts.