ANONYMITY, JUVENILES AND SEX OFFENCES

JUVENILES  The age of criminal responsibility is 10 – nobody under that age can be prosecuted.  “Juvenile” defendants are those from 10 until their 18 th birthday. They are generally dealt with in Youth Courts where there is a blanket ban on identification under Section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act. We can’t give their name, address, school, image or any other detail which would ID them.  The ban is rarely lifted – only to avoid injustice, to apprehend somebody wanted for a violent offence or in the public interest.

JUVENILES  If a juvenile appears in adult court – either due to the seriousness of the offence or if they’re charged alongside an adult – there will almost certainly be a discretionary ban imposed under Section 39 of the CYPA.  Section 39s are also imposed on juvenile witnesses or – more rarely – victims.  They can’t be passed on a dead child or on an adult – however the effect may be the same if, for instance, a father is charged with assaulting his child.  “Jigsaw” ID is a problem here. All media should use the same set of details to prevent ID’ing a juvenile.  Section 39 orders are fairly often lifted on conviction for a very serious offence – remember the Bulger case.

ASBOs  Anti-social Behaviour Orders are civil and not criminal matters. There is no automatic restriction on naming a juvenile who’s been ASBO’d – in fact it’s what the order is there for.  However……interim ASBOs – before a case is proved – and “bolt-on” ASBOs which are issued as part of a juvenile’s sentence in Youth Court are more of a problem. Generally speaking we can’t name in the former instance but CAN in the latter.  Breach of an ASBO brings the juvenile back to Youth Court but we should be entitled to name them in this instance.

SEX OFFENCES  Any victim of any sex offence – be they man or woman, adult or child – has automatic anonymity for life from the moment the crime is reported.  The anonymity covers a wide range of offences from exposure and voyeurism up to rape and conspiracy to rape.  There have been a number of Sex Offences Acts over the years – you will only be expected in exam to name the Act of  It applies to civil and criminal courts and employment tribunals.  It doesn’t apply if the victim is dead or prosecuted for perjury or wasting police time. Anybody over 16 can waive their right to anonymity. This must be in writing and the person must be made fully aware of the consequences of ID.

SEX OFFENCES  The anonymity means we cannot reveal “any matter” which would ID the victim. Name, address, school/college, workplace, still or moving picture.  Again we need to be aware of jigsaw ID. If one part of the media gives a few details – staying legally safe – but another part give different details – again legally safe – the effect will be to ID the victim.  The PCC code has strict rules governing sex offences – refer to Clauses 7 and 11. The Ofcom Code also contains warnings.

OTHER ISSUES  Under Section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act a court can ban publication of a name or other matter in a case. Generally this will be for blackmail cases and matters of national security.  Section 46 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act gives courts the power to grant anonymity to adult witnesses if they’re in fear or distress sufficient to effect the quality of their evidence.  Injunctions under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act – the right to privacy – may prevent us naming somebody such as a footballer playing away! Under Article 2 – the right to life – people such as the Bulger killers and Maxine Carr are also protected with new identities.  We are under an ethical obligation of accuracy as expressed in both the PCC and Ofcom codes.