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registered interest false remove filter
date less than 2020-12-30more like thismore than 2020-12-30
answering body
Ministry of Justice remove filter
answering dept id 54 more like this
answering dept short name Justice more like this
answering dept sort name Justice more like this
hansard heading Young Offenders more like this
house id 1 more like this
legislature
25259
pref label House of Commons more like this
question text To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made in ensuring that people who are charged with an offence under the age of 18 years are tried in the youth justice system. more like this
tabling member constituency York Central more like this
tabling member printed
Rachael Maskell remove filter
uin 133047 more like this
answer
answer
is ministerial correction false more like this
date of answer less than 2021-01-14more like thismore than 2021-01-14
answer text <p>The age of the young person at their first appearance in court determines whether they are tried in the youth or adult court. The youth court does not have jurisdiction where the defendant has turned 18 before making their first court appearance. However, if the child has made their first court appearance and turns 18 during the proceedings it is possible for their case to continue to be heard in a Youth Court. Throughout court proceedings, consideration is given to the age - both chronological and developmental - of the defendant, and measures exist to ensure that those who turn 18 before trial are supported.</p><p>Where a child turns 18 after an offence is committed but before conviction, they will be tried in adult court. Youth and maturity will continue to inform sentencing decisions even after the offender turns 18 however, and the Sentencing Council’s definitive guideline, Sentencing Children and Young People, states that in these cases courts should use the sentence that would have been given at the time the offence was committed as a starting point.</p><p>Younger children have very different needs to young adults, and the special measures that exist in youth courts - such as the right to anonymity - are intended to protect vulnerable children. That is why they are not automatically available to defendants over the age of 18, regardless of when the offence was committed. However, assistance (including the Registered Intermediaries scheme) does exist to support adult defendants who are determined to be vulnerable.</p><p>We are also working to clear the courts backlogs and reduce the number of children awaiting trial. Significant work is being undertaken within HMCTS to carefully consider the impact that Covid-19 has had on the youth court and to develop measures which reduce the backlog while prioritising time-sensitive cases. The judiciary has also re-published a note of listing in magistrates’ courts the during Covid-19 outbreak, where it highlights the impact on the remand status of youth defendants (for example where delay might mean a relevant age-threshold is crossed).</p><p>Youth courts are now running at near to normal sitting patterns, and it is forecast that the outstanding caseload will soon return to pre-Covid levels. Since 20 July 2020 courts have disposed of more youth cases than they have received, reducing the number of outstanding youth cases week on week.</p>
answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire remove filter
answering member printed Lucy Frazer more like this
question first answered
less than 2021-01-14T13:17:46.193Zmore like thismore than 2021-01-14T13:17:46.193Z
answering member
4517
label Biography information for Lucy Frazer more like this
tabling member
4471
label Biography information for Rachael Maskell more like this