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<p>The vast majority of children and young people have their cases heard by specially
trained magistrates in the Youth Court.</p><p> </p><p>A child or young person may
only be tried in the adult magistrates’ courts where they are a co-defendant with
an adult and the court has decided that it is in the interests of justice to keep
the defendants together. Children alleged to have committed serious offences, for
example homicide or offences that for an adult would result in 14 years or more in
prison, are tried in the Crown Court and may also be tried there if it is in the interest
of justice to keep them together with an adult co-defendant.</p><p> </p><p>Overall
crime is down and fewer young people are offending. Proven offending by under-18s
has reduced by 44 percent since 2010/11, while the number of first time entrants to
the system has fallen by 39 percent over the same period. The number of young people
dealt with in the criminal courts has also fallen, reducing by 51% between 2010 and
2013.</p><p> </p><p>Data on the number of children and young people tried in (a) the
adult magistrates’ courts is set out at Table 1.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Young
people aged 10-17 tried at adult magistrates' courts, England and Wales, 2010-2013</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>
</p></td><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number
of young people tried at adult magistrates' courts<sup>(1), (2), (3) & (5)</sup></p></td><td><p>10,401</p></td><td><p>10,667</p></td><td><p>5,463</p></td><td><p>5,702</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p>Data on the number of children and young people tried in (b) the Crown Court
is set out in Table 2.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2: Young people aged 10-17 tried
at the Crown Court, England and Wales, 2009 - 2013</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>
</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number
of young people tried at the Crown Court <sup>(4) & (5)</sup></p></td><td><p>3,002</p></td><td><p>2,787</p></td><td><p>2,367</p></td><td><p>1,847</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p>We are considering the recommendations made by the recent inquiry by
Parliamentarians, chaired by Lord Carlile, including the recommendation concerning
where cases involving children and young people are heard.</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>(1)
Excludes cases that were discontinued, where the charge was withdrawn, where the defendant
failed to appear, and committals for trial to the Crown Court.</p><p>(2) The figures
given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences
for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more
offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same
disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence
for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.</p><p>(3) A child or young
person may only be tried in the adult magistrates’ courts where they are a co-defendant
with an adult and the court has decided that it is in the interests of justice to
keep the defendants together.</p><p>(4) The figures given in the table relate to persons
for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with.
When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for
which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two
or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum
penalty is the most severe.</p><p>(5) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures
presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data
have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts
and police forces which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to
possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.
As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their
inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.</p><p> </p>
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