Scotland's first dedicated youth court sat for
the first time on 3 June 2003.
First sitting of youth court
In the dock alongside the persistent offenders will be
the Scottish Executive’s tough new approach on dealing with delinquents
— with the youth court seen as the first test of the pledge made by the
First Minister, Jack McConnell, to rid Scotland’s streets of teenage
tearaways.
But critics of the plan, which will see children as
young as 15 electronically tagged, claim the Executive’s crackdown is
misguided, after official figures revealed little change in offending by
young people in the last ten years.
In contrast, crime figures released last week showed
an increase in robberies by 17 per cent, the number of rapes up by 9 per
cent and serious assaults up by 5 per cent.
In the pilot area, in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire,
persistent offenders — those charged with three crimes in a six-month
period and within the 16-17 year age group — will be dealt with through
the youth court system.
Some children aged 15, who are identified as potential
beneficiaries of intervention by the court, will see their case referred
to the sheriff instead of the Children’s Panel.
The fast-track process will see those charged appear
either from bail or custody within seven to ten days and face trial
within 50 days. Currently, the sheer bulk of cases in the adult judicial
system means delays of up to a year before a case is heard.
A wide range of measures will include, for the first
time in Scotland, tagging orders instead of prison remand. Fiscals will
work with police and social-work departments to identify those who will
go before the four designated sheriffs at Hamilton Sheriff Court.
In addition to the custodial and non-custodial powers
currently available, the youth court will utilise community service,
probation and new community programmes, where social workers will
intervene to offer help with accommodation, education and training for
offenders.
Superintendent Caroline Scott, from Strathclyde
Police, said the court would not provide a soft option. She said: "I think it will be a deterrent. It is not
the only answer, but it will give communities who have suffered a chance
of some respite." She added: "Youth crime has become a high-priority
issue [in the Executive]. Over the last ten years, persistent offending
in this age group has increased by 40 per cent, although youth crime
overall has decreased."
Supt Scott added that the youth court would target
those who cause the most damage to communities by either addressing
their social needs in an attempt to break the cycle of offending or, if
that failed, by depriving them of their liberty.
The two-year pilot, covering North and South
Lanarkshire, will cost an additional £1.5 million to run, and will be
independently evaluated to assess the impact on communities and the
youths who have gone through the system.
In the first year, it is expected that up to 600 young
people will have their cases referred to the youth court, with about 120
placed on the community-support programmes.
Children’s charity Barnardos yesterday expressed doubt
that the fast-track court would impact on the cycle of persistent
offending. They claim that the re-offending rate among young people who
have been before England’s youth courts stands at almost 90 per cent.
Jim Brisbane, the regional procurator fiscal for
Lanarkshire, said that, in serious cases, the Crown would seek to
prioritise the court’s time to deal with the accused. He added: "There is a recognition that things can be
done better. The sheriff will have a range of options available, but the
objective is to tackle the cycle of offending by breaking that pattern
of behaviour."
Eddie McAvoy, the leader of South Lanarkshire Council,
said: "These services will challenge young people to consider their
behaviour and will help them to keep out of trouble — it should reduce
the negative effect this behaviour has on our communities."
Cathy Jamieson, the new justice minister, will
ultimately decide whether to roll out the youth court system across
Scotland after the evaluation of the Hamilton pilot.
By James Doherty
3 June 2003
http://news.scotsman.com/glasgow.cfm?id=613732003
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