Youth Justice

How the System Works

Youth justice is a special section of the law that deals with offending by children aged 10 to 13 years, and young people aged 14 to 16 years.

Most young people never come to the attention of Police. Of those that do, most only come to Police attention once and will often be dealt with by the Police, without recourse to the formal justice system. The majority of offending by young people is minor and short-term; nearly half of all known offences committed by young people are rated as of minimum seriousness.

A minority of young people commit serious and/or repeat offences. This minority commits a large proportion of all youth offences. These are serious young offenders who have been described in research as persisters. Persistent young offenders start offending at a young age (before the age of 14) and start committing serious crimes early on in their criminal careers. Early intervention (intervention delivered early in the life of the person and the problem) is the most effective means known of reducing the risk of persistent offending among at-risk young people.

Children and young people account for 22 percent of the total number of apprehended offenders. [1] This figure has been relatively stable over the last decade.

The Youth Justice System

New Zealand’s youth justice system is governed by the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 (the Act). The Act sets out two principles relating to child and young offenders:

they are held accountable, and encouraged to accept responsibility, for their behaviour: and

they are dealt with in a way that acknowledges their needs and that will give them the opportunity to develop in responsible, beneficial, and socially acceptable ways.

The youth justice system takes a diversionary approach and aims to keep young people out of the formal justice system (courts), unless the public interest requires otherwise. The system aims to resolve offending and hold a young offender to account without them receiving a criminal conviction, as they would under the criminal justice system. Experience shows that, once a young person has a criminal record, they tend to carry on breaking the law and their offences may get more serious. The aim is to avoid that.

When a child or young person is apprehended the Police have a range of responses available to them. Children under 10 years of age cannot be prosecuted (taken to criminal court) for any criminal offence, but the Police can respond to the offending through warnings and alternative action. Serious offending by this group will normally be dealt with as a care and protection matter through Child, Youth and Family.

An apprehended child aged 10 to 13 can only be prosecuted for murder or manslaughter. Other offending by children may be dealt with by police through a warning or diversionary action. More serious offending can result in a Family Group Conference (FGC) and may be referred to the Family Court, where a wide range of orders is available to the Court to address the child’s offending.

An apprehended young person (someone aged 14 to 16 years old) can be:

warned by frontline Police;

referred to the Youth Aid division of Police for alternative action (diversion);

referred for a youth justice FGC to decide whether a charge should be laid; or

arrested and charged in the Youth Court.

For very serious offences, the Youth Court may transfer the young person to the adult court system. Where a young person is charged with murder or manslaughter they are automatically dealt with in the High Court. Alleged offenders aged 17 years and over are dealt with in the adult court system.

Family Group Conferences

Family Group Conferences (FGCs) are an important part of New Zealand’s youth justice system. A FGC is a formal meeting for members of the family/whānau/hapū/iwi, the young offender, and the Police to decide how the young offender can be held accountable and encouraged to take responsibility for his or her behaviour. Other people, such as the victim, a social worker, and/or a youth advocate may also attend the conference. Youth Justice Co-ordinators from Child, Youth and Family are responsible for convening FGCs and managing them.

FGCs are held before a young person is charged with an offence or during the Youth Court process. All young people dealt with by the Youth Court take part in a FGC. At the FGC a plan is made on how the young person is to address their offending, along with any recommendations to the Youth Court Judge on how the young person should be dealt with.

For more information on FGCs see www.cyf.govt.nz/youthjustice.htm

The Youth Justice System in Operation

The overwhelming majority of children (10-13yrs) apprehended for alleged offending are dealt with by Police only (either frontline warning or caution, or referral to Youth Aid). Youth Aid alternative action may involve the child or young person paying reparation to the victim, writing a letter of apology, undertaking community work, or participating in a relevant programme.

Similarly, the majority of young people (14-16yrs) apprehended for alleged offending are dealt with by the Police only (either frontline warning or caution, or referral to Youth Aid). Approximately 29% of apprehended young people are charged in the Youth Court, and approximately 6% are referred to a youth justice FGC to decide whether a charge should be laid.

Police apprehension data is available through the Statistics New Zealand website: www.stats.govt.nz

A multi-agency system

In order to adequately address the many factors of offending by young people, a number of agencies are involved in administering the youth justice system - both government and non-government. The Ministries of Justice and Social Development are responsible for youth justice policy and also have an operational role – Justice through administration of the court system and Social Development through Child, Youth and Family Services. New Zealand Police are the other major operational agency involved in the youth justice system. The Ministries of Health and Education and the Department of Corrections are also involved. Outside government, Youth Court Judges, youth advocates, NGO service providers and advisory agencies, iwi and academics all contribute to the operation of the youth justice system.

For more information on the youth justice system see the following websites:

Youth Court: www.justice.govt.nz/youth

Child, Youth and Family: http://www.cyf.govt.nz/

Ministry of Social Development: www.msd.govt.nz/work-areas/children-and-young-people

Police: www.police.govt.nz/resources/2005/youth-policing-plan

Youth Law: www.youthlaw.co.nz

Footnotes

1 Police apprehension statistics, available online at www.stats.govt.nz