JUVENILES IN COURT

Children and Young Persons Act 1933  Nobody under 10 can be prosecuted in this country – people from 10 until their 18 th birthday are “juveniles”.  The two important “sections” of the CYPA governing our reporting of juveniles in court are Section 49 and Section 39.  Section 49 gives automatic anonymity to any juvenile appearing in a Youth Court – be they defendant, witness or, sometimes, victim.  Section 39 is the discretionary anonymity given to a juvenile appearing in adult court – Magistrates, Crown or even a Coroners Court.  These orders must never be ignored – though they can be challenged.

Section 49  In a Youth Court we cannot give the defendant’s name, address, school or photograph  Nor can we say anything which could lead to their identification - a 15 year old papergirl in a small village, for instance.  Adult witnesses can be named – but not if it would identify the juvenile  Section 49 anonymity can occasionally be lifted – but it’s rare.  It’s generally accepted that if a juvenile passes their 18 th birthday during proceedings they can be named.  Section 49 orders travel with the juvenile on appeal – but not to Crown Court for trial or sentence.

Section 39  Juveniles may appear in adult court when they’re charged alongside an older person and when they’re in Crown Court for trial or sentence.  There will almost undoubtedly be a discretionary Section 39 passed banning their identification. There will also be Section 39s on any under-18 year old appearing in any way in any adult court.  Again, they ban us from using the person’s name, address, school, picture – or anything which could identify them.  Section 39s cannot be passed on a dead child – or on an adult – though the effect may be to anonymise an adult.  They are also frequently challenged when imposed on very young children or babies.

Section 39 contd  They must be passed with “good reason” and on somebody “concerned in proceedings” and not just mentioned in passing.  They cannot be passed on an adult defendant’s children just to spare them embarrassment.  It’s fairly common to lift the Section 39, on conviction, in very serious cases – remember the killers of James Bulger.  However……they may then need lifelong anonymity.  Beware of jigsaw identification in both Section 49 and Section 39 – the detail you are using may be different to the detail other media are using. Put together, they may lead to the identification of the juvenile.

Anti-social Behaviour Orders  ASBOs are civil, not criminal, matters and are designed to allow local people to know the measures taken against those creating problems.  Therefore…….if a juvenile is given an ASBO you SHOULD be able to identify them.  In a straightforward ASBO there should be no Section 39 order. However…..  If an “interim ASBO” is passed before an adjournment there may well be a Section 39 ordered.  In a Youth Court if a juvenile is given a “bolt-on” ASBO as part of his punishment for a crime you can in theory report the ASBO but not the original crime! It’s now accepted however, that the Section 49 should cease once a bolt-on ASBO is imposed.

Anti-social Behaviour Orders contd  A breach of an ASBO is a criminal offence – so if a juvenile is brought to Youth Court for a breach you might expect Section 49 to be in place.  However, this has now been removed from such hearings and we can name the youth. A Section 39 can be imposed – but there should be good reason for doing so.