Youths - jointly charged with adults Flashcards
Where will youths have their first hearing?
In the Youth Court.
What are the exceptions to the rule that the youth’s first hearing will be in the Youth Court?
*The youth is jointly charged with an adult.
*The youth is charged with aiding and abetting an adult to commit an offence.
*An adult is charged with aiding and abetting a youth to commit an offence.
*The youth is charged with an offence that arises out of the same circumstances as, or is connected with, an offence that an adult is charged with.
Are there any circumstances in which an adult will appear in the Youth Court?
Other than where a youth becomes an adult during the course of proceedings (i.e. after the first hearing) there are no circumstances whereby an adult can appear before the Youth Court.
When will a youth ALWAYS be sent to the Crown Court?
*Homicide;
*Firearms with mandatory three year minimum sentence;
*Served with a notice in serious fraud or child case; or
*Charged with a specified offence and meets the dangerous criteria
When will a youth jointly charged with an adult be sent to the Crown Court?
If the adult is sent to the Crown Court for a trial and the youth is to be tried on the same matter then the magistrates’ court will have to consider whether it is in the interests of justice (IOJ) for the child or young person and the adult to be tried jointly.
When is it in the interests of justice for a youth to be sent to the Crown Court?
- whether separate trials will cause injustice to witnesses or to the case as a whole;
- the age of the child or young person; the younger the child or young person, the greater the desirability that the child or young person be tried in the youth court;
- the age gap between the child or young person and the adult; a substantial gap in age works in favour of the child or young person being tried in the youth court;
- the lack of maturity of the child or young person;
- the relative culpability of the child or young person compared with the adult and whether the alleged role played by the child or young person was minor; and/or
- the lack of previous findings of guilt on the part of the child or young person.
What is the process for deciding whether it is in the interests of justice?
The prosecution and defence make representations as to whether it is in the interests of justice to send the Youth to the CC.
What are the conflicting interests the court need to balance when deciding whether it is in the interests of justice to send a youth to the CC?
*If the youth’s trial is separated from the adult’s, the prosecution witnesses will have to give evidence twice. It may be that in the youth court hearing the youth’s trial will reach a different and therefore inconsistent verdict to the jury hearing the Crown Court trial of the adult. This would obviously be undesirable.
*However, sending the youth to the Crown Court means that the youth would not be tried in the court best equipped to deal with youths. Younger defendants particularly may find the Crown Court intimidating.
What is the procedure after allocation in relation to plea?
If the court decides that the youth should be tried with the adult, the youth’s case will be sent to the Crown Court for a Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing, alongside the adult.
Once a youth is before the Crown Court for trial there is no power to remit the youth back to the youth court for trial even if the adult with whom the youth was sent pleads guilty. This means that the youth would face trial alone in the Crown Court.
If a young person is found guilty in the CC where are they sentenced?
Once the trial has been concluded and the child or young person is found guilty the court must remit the case to the youth court, unless it would be undesirable to do so.
When will the court consider it ‘undesirable’ to send the youth back to the youth court for sentencing?
In considering whether remittal is undesirable a court should balance the need for expertise in the sentencing of children and young people with the benefits of the sentence being imposed by the court which determined guilt given that the judge who heard the trial will reserve sentencing of the adult (if convicted).
What is an exception to a youth being sent back to the Youth Court for sentencing?
If the offence is homicide.
