The Youth Courts

What is the Youth Court?

Where the accused is under 18, the case will be heard in a youth court. These are special Magistrates' courts which either sit apart from the other courts or are held at a different time. The underlying philosophy of the youth court is that the interests of the young person are dominant. However, young offenders must still have their situation assessed¹ in a room similar to a court.

Public access is limited, as is media reporting. Newspapers, radio, internet and television news services cannot make public the identity of a criminal under the age of 16.

If a person under 18 is accused of committing a crime together with another person aged over 18, then the case is usually heard in an ordinary Magistrates' court or the Crown Court. If the young person is found guilty then the court has freedom on whether or not to transfer the case to the youth court.

Similarly, if the child is believed to have committed a crime of murder, rape, manslaughter, or causing death by dangerous driving, then he or she can be tried in the Crown Court.

How does it fight crime?

The age of criminal responsibility is 10 years, and children under this age are protected from prosecution. This is different in Scotland, where the age of criminal responsibility is 8. If the young person is aged over 14 years then they are considered to be responsible for their acts.

Juries are not used in youth courts. The youth court is presided over by a magistrate, and there must be at least one male and one female magistrate on the bench.

All magistrates sitting in the youth court are specially trained to deal with youth cases. They also generally have experience of working with children, as a youth worker or teacher. As would be expected, the proceedings are a lot less formal than in other courts, and the parents or guardian have to be present.

What's the history?

Young offenders received cruel treatment in the past. In the 18th and 19th century, children were treated exactly the same as adults by the justice system and were thrown in prison, sentenced to death and hanged, or transported². Parkhurst prison, on the Isle of Wight, opened in 1838 as a prison for boys aged between 10 and 18 years, and used punishments such as leg irons¹ and whipping².

Things changed when the Liberals came to power in 1908, abolishing prison for children and setting up special juvenile courts³. By 1933, things had progressed so far that it was the job of the courts to look after the welfare⁴ of children and not punish them.

The Criminal Justice Act 1991 replaced the juvenile courts with the youth courts, and these now deal with offenders under the age of 18 years, whereas the juvenile courts handled cases involving children up to the age of 14 years. Juvenile courts handled care proceedings⁵ as well as criminal cases. However, the Children Act 1989 transferred care proceedings to the family courts.

2	Answer the questions.

1. What is the basic principle of the Youth Court work?

2. When can young criminals be tried in the Crown Court?

3. What is the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland?

4. Can children be tried by juries?

5. Who are the judges in the Youth Court?

6. How were children punished in the 18th and 19th century?

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Read the text about the US court system and answer the questions.

1. Give a definition of “jurisdiction”. What aspects does it have?

2. From which document do the federal courts receive their jurisdiction?

3. What does the territorial jurisdiction mean?

4. Which basic principle of American government determines America’s dual court system?

5. Why cannot a verdict of non-guilty be appealed?