Youth Court

Youth Courts have been set up specifically to hear the cases of those people aged 10 to 17 years old. It is designed to be less formal than the adult Magistrates’ Court and it has its own procedures and powers.

Court staff must be specially trained to hear Youth cases. Young people will face either a District Judge sitting alone or a bench of three Magistrates, at least one of which must be a male, and one a female.

Youth Court hearings are held in private which means that only those directly involved in the case are allowed in the court room. The general public are not allowed.

The press are not allowed without a court order to report any information which could lead to your identity being known.

Attending the Youth Court

If you are aged under 16, you must bring a parent or guardian with you to the court. If you fail to do this your case may be delayed until they can come to court. If you are 15 to 17 it is not compulsory to do so but we would strongly recommend bringing somebody with you.

Youth Court Procedure

This depends upon whether you plead Guilty or Not Guilty.

On a guilty plea the case is usually adjourned [put off to another day] for the preparation of a pre-sentence report to assist the court in deciding most appropriate sentence

If you plead Not Guilty then the case will be adjourned for a trial in the Youth court on another day. Only in the the most serious crimes (grave crimes) will the trial be held in the Crown Court.

At Bullivant Law you will be allocated a dedicated file manager to prepare your trial.


 

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