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http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/yjceact/yjceact.htm
The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act has two main purposes:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/yjceact/yopanel1.htm
creates a new sentence for young people convicted in court for the first
time and pleading guilty:
referral to a youth offender panel. It continues the process of
reforming the Youth Justice System begun by the Crime and Disorder Act
1998. That Act introduced a number of measures, which incorporate the
key principles of restorative justice:
Making restoration to the victim
Achieving reintegration into the law-abiding community
The offender taking responsibility for the consequences of their
behaviour
The Government now wants to extend these principles
into the youth court so that it becomes more than just a means of
establishing innocence and guilt. It believes that a conviction should
trigger a wider inquiry into the reasons for a young person’s offending
behaviour and allow appropriate action to be taken to tackle it. This will
be achieved by introducing referrals to a youth offender panel for first
time young offenders (i.e. those aged between 10-17) who plead guilty.
For further information on Referral Orders, see The
Introduction to Referral Orders into the Youth Justice System - First
Interim Report (2000) Research Development & Statistics
Directorate. London: Home Office.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/occ70-youth.pdf
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/yjceact/crimevint.htm
will help witnesses who find giving evidence in criminal proceedings
particularly difficult – because they are children, have a physical or
mental disability or disorder, or are frightened of retaliation or
distressed by the nature of the offence.
The special measures to be provided by the courts include:
- screens, to ensure that the witness cannot see the accused;
- giving evidence by live television link;
- excluding people from the courtroom, or galleries, so that evidence
can be given in a more private setting;
- allowing as witnesses' evidence-in-chief a video-recorded interview
with the witness; and,
- allowing as evidence pre-recorded videoed cross-examination.
Witnesses who have a disability and children will also be able to give
evidence with the aid of:
- an approved intermediary; and,
- with the use of communication aids, such as alphabet boards.
For further information please contact the:
Justice and Victims Unit
Home Office
50 Queen Anne's Gate
London SW1H 9AT
E-mail pvu.ho@gtnet.gov.uk
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