An Introduction to the Youth Court

The Youth Court deals with children and young people between the ages of 10 and 17 who are accused of committing criminal offences.

Today I provide a very quick overview of how the Youth Court works. The work of the Youth Court is automatically covered by reporting restrictions, so there is not a lot written about what it does.

I should say that bail and remand provisions in the Youth Court are a pretty complicated affair, so for the sake of simplicity I am going to totally omit those from this article.

Introduction

The Children and Young Persons Act 1933 defines a child as someone under the age of 14 years old; a young person as someone aged between 14 and 17 years old.

In England and Wales the age of criminal responsibility is 10 years old. There is an irrebuttable presumption, in the eyes of the law, that no child under the age of 10 is capable of committing a criminal offence.

Even when it is clear that an offence has been committed, it is preferable to deal with matters outside of the formality of the Youth Court if at all possible. This can be achieved by via informal words of advice, a community resolution, a youth caution or youth conditional caution. My local police force is very keen on out of court disposals, so very few cases reach the Youth Court.

The principle aim of the youth justice system is to prevent reoffending. The welfare of the child or young person is of paramount consideration to the Youth Court, which deals with offenders in a far more individualistic way that the (Adult) Magistrates' Court.

Anyone under the age of 16 who appears before the Youth Court must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, unless the court considers it unreasonable. Those aged 16 or older may be accompanied. This is to encourage the parent or guardian to take responsibility.

Only members and officers of the court, advocates, parties, witnesses and bona fide members of the press are allowed in the Youth Court. Ordinary members of the public are not allowed in. There are strict rules about what can/cannot be reported in relation to proceedings in the Youth Court.

Constitution and Jurisdiction

The Youth Court is correctly constituted with a bench of at least two specially trained Magistrates or a District Judge. Under normal circumstances, as in the Magistrates' Court, a bench of three Magistrates would sit.

The Youth Court deals with a much wider range of offences than the Magistrates' Court, as the rules dictate that all but the most serious of youth offences are dealt with summarily. This means that offences like robbery, rape and wounding with intent can, under certain circumstances, be dealt with by the Youth Court. In the case of an adult offender these indictable offences would always be dealt with by the Crown Court.

Allocation

As previously mentioned, the Youth Court can deal with a much wider range of offences than the Magistrates' Court. Even so, as in the case of adult defendants, there are some offences that must be allocated to the Crown Court.

In the case of a youth accused of any of the following offences, no plea will be taken and the matter will be sent to the Crown Court:

• Charged with homicide (e.g. where the youth is accused of somehow killing another);
• Charged with certain firearms offences (those that have a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 years' custody - only applies when the youth is aged 16 or older at the time of the offence);
• Charged with serious complex fraud or child cases and the correct notice has been served on the court.

Unless charged with a grave crime the case of a youth should normally be dealt with in the Youth Court unless the dangerousness provisions appear to be satisfied.

Even if charged with a grave crime, the case of a youth should normally be dealt with in the Youth Court unless the court is of the opinion that the likely sentence, if convicted, would exceed 2 years' custody or the dangerousness provisions appear to be satisfied.

Thankfully the Sentencing Council has produced a very handy flowchart summarising the allocation process, which is shown below:

Sentencing

When sentencing, the court should consider the following elements:

• the principle aim of the youth justice system (to prevent reoffending);
• the welfare of the child or young person;
• the age of the child or young person (chronological, developmental and emotional);
• the seriousness of the offence;
• the likelihood of further offences being committed; and
• the extent of harm likely to arise from those further offences.

Youth-specific guidelines are available for the sentencing of some offences. Adult guidelines can be used for reference when sentencing other offences. As a general rule of thumb, the starting point sentence for a youth offender is 1/3 to 1/2 of the starting point sentence of an adult offender.

The following sentences are available to the Youth Court:

- Absolute and conditional discharge:

As in the Magistrates' Court, these sentences are appropriate where the offence does not merit immediate punishment, or it is inexpedient to impose any other sentence.

A youth cannot be made subject to a conditional discharge if they have previously received two cautions or a conditional caution and caution, the most recent of which was within the last two years, unless there are exceptional circumstances relating to the offence or offender.

- Financial order:

The court can impose a financial penalty for any offence, except in those circumstances where a mandatory referral order is made. As in the Magistrates' Court, compensation orders should take priority over fines. When a costs order is made alongside a fine, it cannot be more than the amount of the fine.

If the child or young person is below the age of 16, then the court has a duty to make their parents or carers to pay the fine. If they are aged 16 or more then this duty is discretionary, but the court should have due regard to any expenses the young person might have - e.g. for transport to work, education or training and meals.

- Referral order:

This is a sentencing option for all youth offenders.

A referral order must be imposed on any youth with no previous convictions who pleads guilty to any imprisonable offence, unless the court is considering an absolute discharge, conditional discharge, Mental Health Act order or custody. Previous bind overs and discharges (absolute or conditional) are not previous convictions for these purposes, so do not have any impact on the mandatory referral order provisions.

A referral order is a type of agreement between the Youth Justice Service and the offender. The offender appears before a referral order panel, which is comprised of various youth justice stakeholders and members of the community. The offender and panel agree a contract to address their offending. If the offender refuses to accept or breaks the contract then the court can impose a more severe sentence.

The minimum duration of a referral order is 3 months; the maximum is 12 months.

- Youth rehabilitation order (YRO):

The youth version of a community order, if you like. A YRO should be made when the offence is "serious enough" to justify it, however, it is not mandatory even in those circumstances. As with an adult community order, the YRO can have certain requirements attached to it. The available requirements depend on the nature of the offence and age of the youth offender.

- Youth rehabilitation order (YRO) with intensive surveillance and supervision (ISS):

This is an enhanced version of the YRO, which is a direct alternative to a custodial sentence (e.g. a detention and training order).

A YRO with ISS can only be imposed in the case of custodial offences that the court deems so serious that a custodial sentence could be imposed.

A youth under the age of 15 at the time of conviction can only be made subject to a YRO with ISS if they are a persistent offender.

A YRO with ISS must be at least 6 months in duration. The maximum duration is 3 years. Activity requirements attached to the order must be for at least 90 days and not more than 180 days, although different requirements can have different durations as specified in the order.

- Detention and training order (DTO):

A DTO is custodial sentence available for young offenders aged between 12 and 17 years. In the case of 12 to 14 year olds, the order can only be made in the case of a persistent offender.

A DTO can only be imposed in the case of custodial offences that the court deems so serious that only a custodial sentence is appropriate. Furthermore, the court must give reasons for sentencing the youth offender to a DTO instead of a YRO with ISS.

The minimum duration of a DTO is 4 months; the maximum is 2 years. Half of the sentence is served in custody, the other half in the community under the supervision of the relevant Youth Justice Service. If the youth offender commits new offences during the community stage of the DTO, they are liable to be recalled into custody.

Further reading:

Blackstones' Handbook of Youths In the Criminal Courts (aff. link)