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PART III |
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM |
| Youth justice |
Aim of the youth justice system. |
37. - (1) It shall be the principal aim of the youth justice system to prevent offending by children and young persons. |
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(2) In addition to any other duty to which they are subject, it shall be the duty of all persons and bodies carrying out functions in relation to the youth justice system to have regard to that aim. |
Local provision of youth justice services. |
38. - (1) It shall be the duty of each local authority, acting in co-operation with the persons and bodies mentioned in subsection (2) below, to secure that, to such extent as is appropriate for their area, all youth justice services are available there. |
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(2) It shall be the duty of- |
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(a) every chief officer of police or police authority any part of whose police area lies within the local authority's area; and |
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(b) every probation committee or health authority any part of whose area lies within that area, |
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to co-operate in the discharge by the local authority of their duty under subsection (1) above. |
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(3) The local authority and every person or body mentioned in subsection (2) above shall have power to make payments towards expenditure incurred in the provision of youth justice services- |
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(a) by making the payments directly; or |
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(b) by contributing to a fund, established and maintained by the local authority, out of which the payments may be made. |
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(4) In this section and sections 39 to 41 below "youth justice services" means any of the following, namely- |
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(a) the provision of persons to act as appropriate adults to safeguard the interests of children and young persons detained or questioned by police officers; |
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(b) the assessment of children and young persons, and the provision for them of rehabilitation programmes, for the purposes of section 66(2) below; |
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(c) the provision of support for children and young persons remanded or committed on bail while awaiting trial or sentence; |
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(d) the placement in local authority accommodation of children and young persons remanded or committed to such accommodation under section 23 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 ("the 1969 Act"); |
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(e) the provision of reports or other information required by courts in criminal proceedings against children and young persons; |
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(f) the provision of persons to act as responsible officers in relation to parenting orders, child safety orders, reparation orders and action plan orders; |
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(g) the supervision of young persons sentenced to a probation order, a community service order or a combination order; |
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(h) the supervision of children and young persons sentenced to a detention and training order or a supervision order; |
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(i) the post-release supervision of children and young persons under section 37(4A) or 65 of the 1991 Act or section 31 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 ("the 1997 Act"); |
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(j) the performance of functions under subsection (1) of section 75 below by such persons as may be authorised by the Secretary of State under that subsection. |
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(5) The Secretary of State may by order amend subsection (4) above so as to extend, restrict or otherwise alter the definition of "youth justice services" for the time being specified in that subsection. |
Youth offending teams. |
39. - (1) Subject to subsection (2) below, it shall be the duty of each local authority, acting in co-operation with the persons and bodies mentioned in subsection (3) below, to establish for their area one or more youth offending teams. |
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(2) Two (or more) local authorities acting together may establish one or more youth offending teams for both (or all) their areas; and where they do so- |
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(a) any reference in the following provisions of this section (except subsection (4)(b)) to, or to the area of, the local authority or a particular local authority shall be construed accordingly; and |
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(b) the reference in subsection (4)(b) to the local authority shall be construed as a reference to one of the authorities. |
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(3) It shall be the duty of- |
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(a) every chief officer of police any part of whose police area lies within the local authority's area; and |
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(b) every probation committee or health authority any part of whose area lies within that area, |
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to co-operate in the discharge by the local authority of their duty under subsection (1) above. |
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(4) The local authority and every person or body mentioned in subsection (3) above shall have power to make payments towards expenditure incurred by, or for purposes connected with, youth offending teams- |
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(a) by making the payments directly; or |
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(b) by contributing to a fund, established and maintained by the local authority, out of which the payments may be made. |
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(5) A youth offending team shall include at least one of each of the following, namely- |
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(b) a social worker of a local authority social services department; |
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(d) a person nominated by a health authority any part of whose area lies within the local authority's area; |
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(e) a person nominated by the chief education officer appointed by the local authority under section 532 of the Education Act 1996. |
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(6) A youth offending team may also include such other persons as the local authority thinks appropriate after consulting the persons and bodies mentioned in subsection (3) above. |
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(7) It shall be the duty of the youth offending team or teams established by a particular local authority- |
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(a) to co-ordinate the provision of youth justice services for all those in the authority's area who need them; and |
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(b) to carry out such functions as are assigned to the team or teams in the youth justice plan formulated by the authority under section 40(1) below. |
Youth justice plans. |
40. - (1) It shall be the duty of each local authority, after consultation with the relevant persons and bodies, to formulate and implement for each year a plan (a "youth justice plan") setting out- |
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(a) how youth justice services in their area are to be provided and funded; and |
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(b) how the youth offending team or teams established by them (whether alone or jointly with one or more other local authorities) are to be composed and funded, how they are to operate, and what functions they are to carry out. |
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(2) In subsection (1) above "the relevant persons and bodies" means the persons and bodies mentioned in section 38(2) above and, where the local authority is a county council, any district councils whose districts form part of its area. |
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(3) The functions assigned to a youth offending team under subsection (1)(b) above may include, in particular, functions under paragraph 7(b) of Schedule 2 to the 1989 Act (local authority's duty to take reasonable steps designed to encourage children and young persons not to commit offences). |
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(4) A local authority shall submit their youth justice plan to the Board established under section 41 below, and shall publish it in such manner and by such date as the Secretary of State may direct. |
The Youth Justice Board. |
41. - (1) There shall be a body corporate to be known as the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales ("the Board"). |
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(2) The Board shall not be regarded as the servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown; and the Board's property shall not be regarded as property of, or held on behalf of, the Crown. |
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(3) The Board shall consist of 10, 11 or 12 members appointed by the Secretary of State. |
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(4) The members of the Board shall include persons who appear to the Secretary of State to have extensive recent experience of the youth justice system. |
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(5) The Board shall have the following functions, namely- |
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(a) to monitor the operation of the youth justice system and the provision of youth justice services; |
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(b) to advise the Secretary of State on the following matters, namely- |
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(i) the operation of that system and the provision of such services;
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(ii) how the principal aim of that system might most effectively be pursued;
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(iii) the content of any national standards he may see fit to set with respect to the provision of such services, or the accommodation in which children and young persons are kept in custody; and
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(iv) the steps that might be taken to prevent offending by children and young persons;
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(c) to monitor the extent to which that aim is being achieved and any such standards met; |
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(d) for the purposes of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) above, to obtain information from relevant authorities; |
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(e) to publish information so obtained; |
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(f) to identify, to make known and to promote good practice in the following matters, namely- |
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(i) the operation of the youth justice system and the provision of youth justice services;
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(ii) the prevention of offending by children and young persons; and
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(iii) working with children and young persons who are or are at risk of becoming offenders;
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(g) to make grants, with the approval of the Secretary of State, to local authorities or other bodies for them to develop such practice, or to commission research in connection with such practice; and |
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(h) themselves to commission research in connection with such practice. |
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(6) The Secretary of State may by order- |
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(a) amend subsection (5) above so as to add to, subtract from or alter any of the functions of the Board for the time being specified in that subsection; or |
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(b) provide that any function of his which is exercisable in relation to the youth justice system shall be exercisable concurrently with the Board. |
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(7) In carrying out their functions, the Board shall comply with any directions given by the Secretary of State and act in accordance with any guidance given by him. |
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(8) A relevant authority- |
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(a) shall furnish to the Board any information required for the purposes of subsection (5)(a), (b) or (c) above; and |
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(b) whenever so required by the Board, shall submit to the Board a report on such matters connected with the discharge of their duties under the foregoing provisions of this Part as may be specified in the requirement. |
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A requirement under paragraph (b) above may specify the form in which a report is to be given. |
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(9) The Board may arrange, or require the relevant authority to arrange, for a report under subsection (8)(b) above to be published in such manner as appears to the Board to be appropriate. |
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(10) In this section "relevant authority" means a local authority, a chief officer of police, a police authority, a probation committee and a health authority. |
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(11) Schedule 2 to this Act (which makes further provision with respect to the Board) shall have effect. |
Supplementary provisions. |
42. - (1) In the foregoing provisions of this Part and this section- |
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"chief officer of police" has the meaning given by section 101(1) of the Police Act 1996; |
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(a) in relation to England, a county council, a district council whose district does not form part of an area that has a county council, a London borough council or the Common Council of the City of London;
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(b) in relation to Wales, a county council or a county borough council;
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"police authority" has the meaning given by section 101(1) of the Police Act 1996; |
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"youth justice system" means the system of criminal justice in so far as it relates to children and young persons. |
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(2) For the purposes of those provisions, the Isles of Scilly form part of the county of Cornwall. |
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(3) In carrying out any of their duties under those provisions, a local authority, a police authority, a probation committee or a health authority shall act in accordance with any guidance given by the Secretary of State. |
| Time limits etc. |
Time limits. |
43. - (1) In subsection (2) of section 22 (time limits in relation to criminal proceedings) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 ("the 1985 Act"), for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs- |
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"(a) be made so as to apply only in relation to proceedings instituted in specified areas, or proceedings of, or against persons of, specified classes or descriptions; |
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(b) make different provision with respect to proceedings instituted in different areas, or different provision with respect to proceedings of, or against persons of, different classes or descriptions;". |
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(2) For subsection (3) of that section there shall be substituted the following subsection- |
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"(3) The appropriate court may, at any time before the expiry of a time limit imposed by the regulations, extend, or further extend, that limit; but the court shall not do so unless it is satisfied- |
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(a) that the need for the extension is due to- |
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(i) the illness or absence of the accused, a necessary witness, a judge or a magistrate;
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(ii) a postponement which is occasioned by the ordering by the court of separate trials in the case of two or more accused or two or more offences; or
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(iii) some other good and sufficient cause; and
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(b) that the prosecution has acted with all due diligence and expedition." |
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(3) In subsection (4) of that section, for the words from "the accused" to the end there shall be substituted the words "the appropriate court shall stay the proceedings". |
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(4) In subsection (6) of that section- |
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(a) for the word "Where" there shall be substituted the words "Subsection (6A) below applies where"; and |
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(b) for the words from "the overall time limit" to the end there shall be substituted the words "and is accordingly unlawfully at large for any period." |
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(5) After that subsection there shall be inserted the following subsection- |
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"(6A) The following, namely- |
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(a) the period for which the person is unlawfully at large; and |
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(b) such additional period (if any) as the appropriate court may direct, having regard to the disruption of the prosecution occasioned by- |
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(i) the person's escape or failure to surrender; and
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(ii) the length of the period mentioned in paragraph (a) above,
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shall be disregarded, so far as the offence in question is concerned, for the purposes of the overall time limit which applies in his case in relation to the stage which the proceedings have reached at the time of the escape or, as the case may be, at the appointed time." |
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(6) In subsection (7) of that section, after the words "time limit," there shall be inserted the words "or to give a direction under subsection (6A) above,". |
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(7) In subsection (8) of that section, after the words "time limit" there shall be inserted the words ", or to give a direction under subsection (6A) above,". |
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(8) After subsection (11) of that section there shall be inserted the following subsection- |
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"(11ZA) For the purposes of this section, proceedings for an offence shall be taken to begin when the accused is charged with the offence or, as the case may be, an information is laid charging him with the offence." |
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