YOUTH COURTS AND APPEARANCE OF YOUTHS IN OTHER COURTS NOTES
a. The categorisation of youths into ‘child’ and ‘young person’
(a) Adult→ any person aged 18 or over. In the context of sentencing, 'adult' is sometimes
used to mean those aged 21 or over, since it is at that age that an offender currently
becomes liable to imprisonment.
(b) Child→ a person under 14 years (s107(1) CYPA 1933)
(c) Young person→ (14-17 inclusive) a person who has attained the age of 14 years and is
under the age of 18 years.
AGE OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY= irrebuttable presumption that a person who is under
the age of ten cannot be guilty of a criminal offence (CYPA 1933, s. 50). (previously rebuttable
presumption that child 10-14 was incapable of committing an offence (doli incapax)- could be
rebutted by evidence the child knew he/she was doing wrong)
b. Procedure in the Youth Court
Allocation (Mode of Trial)
The normal rules governing allocation ('mode of trial') do not apply where the accused is
under the 18. Most children and young people are tried and sentenced in youth courts –
forms of MC (s.45 CYPA 1933). BUT: the youth court has jurisdiction to try offences which,
for an adult, are triable only on indictment (exception of homicide and certain firearms
offences).
SO → A under 18 may and usually will be tried summarily for an indictable offence, whatever
their wishes as to mode of trial may be. An A under 18 has no right to elect a CC.
If they are sent to the CC for trial, it is b/c the magistrates have decided that they should not
accept jurisdiction — the most the accused may do is to make representations for or against
staying in the youth court. In summary:
1. A child/young person either must be tried in the CC if charged:
(a) with homicide, or
(b) with certain offences to which mandatory minimum sentence provisions (e.g. s51A FA
1968) apply, if applicable in the instant case.
2. A child/young person may be tried in the CC if charged:
(a) with an offence to which s91PCC(S)A 2000, applies (offences carrying at least 14 years'
imprisonment for an adult, together with those specified in s. 91 itself), or
(b) with an offence which falls within the ambit of the 'dangerous offender' provisions of
the CJA 2003 or
(c) alongside an adult accused.
3. A child/young person may be tried in an adult MC if charged alongside adult accused.
, Exclusion of Public → The public are excluded from the courtroom of a youth court.
The only persons permitted are (s.47(2) CYPA 1933)
(a) members of the court and court officials;
(b) parties to the case before the court and their legal representatives (lawyers cannot
enter if a case they are appearing in is not being dealt with at that time);
(c) witnesses and other persons directly concerned in that case (witnesses are allowed to
remain in court once they have given evidence);
(d) bona fide representatives of news gathering or reporting organisations (but reporting
restrictions below);
(e) anyone else directly involved in the case (e.g. probation officers or social workers) and;
(f) such other persons as the court may specially authorise to be present.
NOTE: when appearing as an accused, or witness, in an adult MC or the CC, the public has the
right to be present unless the court takes the exceptional step of sitting in private.
Trial in the absence of the accused
If, at the time and place appointed for the trial, the prosecutor appears but the accused does
not, and the accused is under 18, the court may proceed in the absence of the accused
(s.11(1)(a) MCA 1980). The presumption that the court should do so unless it appears to be
contrary to the IOJ applies only where the accused has attained 18.
Matters to be taken into account when deciding whether it is in the IOJ to proceed in the
absence of an A under 18 (CrimPD VI, para. 24C.19):
(a) Trial in absence can result in acquittal and it is in nobody's interests to delay an acquittal;
(b) If convicted, A can ask that the conviction be re-opened in the IOJ, e.g. if absence was
involuntary (s.142(2) MCA 1980)
(c) If convicted, accused has a right to a rehearing on appeal to CC (s.108 MCA 1980);
(d) The accused’s age, vulnerability, or experience
(e) Whether a parent or guardian is present;
(f) The interests of any co-accused;
(g) The interests of any W’s who have attended, including the age of any such Ws;
(h) The nature of the evidence and whether memories of relevant evidence are liable to fade
(i) How soon an adjourned trial can be accommodated in the court list.
**The court must give reasons for the decision to adjourn or proceed in absence.**
Attendance of Parent or Guardian
If the A is aged under 16, the court must (if the accused is 16 or 17, the court may) require a
parent or guardian to attend at the court during all the stages of the proceedings, unless and
to the extent that the court is satisfied that it would be unreasonable to require such
attendance, having regard to the circumstances of the case (S34A(1) CYPA 1933).
'Guardian' = any person who, in the opinion of the court, has for the time being 'the care of
the child or young person' (s. 107 CYPA 1933).
'Parent' = not defined in CYPA but includes adopter of an adopted child by s.39 AA 1976.
