Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999

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Prosecutors should refer to the Victim Communication and Liaison Scheme Legal Guidance for further information on communicating decisions. An assessment should be made of the age and understanding of the child. Prosecutors should refer to the file to ascertain the level of parental/carer involvement. Family Proceedings the person likely to have committed the offence is a member of a group which can be identified from the criminal activity that its members appear to engage in and it appears that the majority of the members of the group are at least 11 but under 30 years old; and The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is 10 years old. This means that children under 10 can’t be arrested or charged with a crime. There are other punishments that can be given to children under 10 who break the law. In appropriate cases, the use of a Registered Intermediary should be considered to assist advocates to assess understanding. Further information about Registered Intermediaries can be found in the Special Measures Legal Guidance.

Legal Guidance ‘ Reporting Restrictions – Children and Young People as Victims, Witnesses and Defendants’ provides further guidance. An unredacted evidential statement of the witness; this is not required where it is proposed to request the court to exercise its discretion under section 87(2)(a) not to be informed of the identity of the witness, unless the prosecutor decides that they need to see a version which does identify the witness; and,

Changes over time for: Section 35

Separate guidance is available in relation to youth offenders. Separate, detailed guidance is also available in relation to child abuse cases. Prosecutors and Safeguarding However, it is important to note that the parents or carers do not have an automatic entitlement to confidential information relating to their child if the child is deemed capable of sufficient understanding. Practice Direction 12G (para 2.1 ‘Communication of information’): This sets out what information can be communicated to third parties - including the police and CPS. In essence, a party in family proceedings or any person lawfully in receipt of information can give the 'text or summary of the whole or part of a judgement given in the proceedings' to a police officer for the purposes of a criminal investigation or to a member of the CPS 'to enable the department to discharge its functions under any enactment.' Provisions relating to making an application are contained in section 77. Applications can be made to a justice of the peace by parties including the chief officer of a police force, the Director General of the NCA and the DPP. These persons may authorise others to exercise these functions on their behalf (section 81).

Children can be victims of offences and can also be affected by crime even if they are not themselves victims or witnesses. A child may be seriously affected by, for example, domestic violence, even if not present in the same room as the offence is committed. Applications to permit sexual history evidence must be heard in private and in the absence of the complainant. This is provided for by section 43. A failure to comply with this statutory requirement is to rehearse all of the arguments in front of the public gallery. After hearing the application, the judge should state their reasons for either allowing or refusing the application in open court. This guidance outlines the measures that can be taken to help safeguard children in the course of criminal proceedings, but the position can be summed up in the following principles: Expedition, Sensitivity and Fairness. In respect of responsibilities for redacting sensitive information, see the Redaction Manual. In respect of disclosure generally, see the Disclosure Manual. Making an application General Procedure

Changes over time for: Section 36

Youth courts deal with offences including theft and burglary, anti-social behaviour and drugs offences. More serious offences are usually transferred to Crown Court but can be dealt with in Youth court How young offenders are dealt with in court There is nothing that intrinsically prevents a prosecution, merely because the incident dates from a much earlier time. Abuse of process arguments can often be successfully defended. Nevertheless, prosecutors must take additional care with such cases, if for no other reason than that the evidence is inevitably more fragile. Consideration must also be given to what evidence may no longer be available and how this might impact on the fairness of the trial. Institutional cases

Advocates should try to adjust their tone and language to an appropriate one for the age and ability of the child without being patronising. Straightforward, non-legal language should be used and questions should be kept short and simple. The special measures which may be relevant for intimidated witnesses include screening the witness from the accused, evidence by live link and evidence given in private. Reporting restrictions It is CPS policy that all witnesses have an opportunity to refresh their memory before giving evidence in court. A witness may be provided with a copy of their statement on the day of trial; they are not entitled as of right to see their statement or to be sent a copy of it before the day of trial. With regards to viewing visual evidence in chief, how, when and where this is done should be decided upon a case by case basis. The overriding aim is to enable the witness to give their best evidence in court - in particular when being cross-examined. Prosecutors should try to provide assistance to local authorities and person appointed by the court to act in the best interests of a child seeking to discharge their statutory responsibilities.

Identity of children accused of a crime 

One of the practical realities affecting the criminal justice system is that the success or failure of many criminal prosecutions depends largely upon the availability, and quality, of evidence given by witnesses. It is also an unfortunate reality that, in many such cases, the witness or witnesses relied upon by the prosecution require assistance or, in extreme cases, protection so as to give the best testimony possible. The issue is perceived to be particularly acute where key witnesses are children and may be required to testify to abuse that they, themselves, have suffered, although the same difficulties often arise with adult victims, for instance in the context of domestic abuse. Securing a conviction, therefore, often turns on the ability of the court system to accommodate the special needs of vulnerable or at-risk witnesses, and in that respect the existing legal and procedural regimes were broadly considered to be inadequate. The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA) was introduced as part of New Labour’s stated aim of modernising the youth justice system. Prosecutors must ensure that they have sufficient evidence or information to satisfy a court that each of the three conditions has been met. Each application is likely to be fact specific, and applications for civilian witnesses and those for professional witnesses engaged in law enforcement are likely to differ.

It is crucial that prosecutors are fully conversant with these rules. The key rules are highlighted below: any hearing held, between conviction and sentencing, for the purpose of determining matters relevant to the court’s decision as to how the accused is to be dealt with, and

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to examine with care, and probe where appropriate, the material provided in support of the application and the evidential basis for it. Prosecutors should in particular objectively assess any statement made by the witness or witnesses in question and the grounds on which it is based Where possible, agreement should be reached with the local authority or parties' solicitors as to the extent and timing of any disclosure. This should help to avoid a court hearing. If agreement cannot be reached, the applicant party should be informed in writing, with reasons, why no or only partial disclosure can take place. The letter is likely to be placed before the family court Judge and all reasons should be fully articulated. Non-Recent and Institutional Cases Non-Recent cases Whatever the offence, prosecutors should consider the position of the child and what can be done, having regard to the role and the powers of the prosecutor, to safeguard the child including the availability of Special Measures and the possibility of a prosecution without the participation of the victim. Although it is unlikely to be possible to eliminate stress and worry altogether, prosecutors should take such steps as are possible to reduce it to a minimum. Reviewing cases where the child is a victim or a witness Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) Advocates should ensure that the witness understands the procedures and is given an opportunity to ask questions. It should not be assumed that the child has understood what has been said, even if they say they have. This is particularly so where a child has learning disabilities as such children are more likely than others to say they understand something that they do not; this may come from a desire to please or may be a learned response aimed at avoiding trouble.