West Hertfordshire Magistrates
The Youth Courts
1. Until a child is eighteen years old, a parent/guardian is responsible for all aspects of a child's needs and is held responsible for all their actions.
2. The Defence is someone who has qualifications in law and represents the defendant but in this case the defendant is the child, not the parent.
3. The Youth Offender Team (YOT) are a team of professionals who deal with young people and who organise programmes that try to change their offending behaviour. This will include talking to and sometimes meeting with victims as well as the families of offenders.
There are a few similarities between a Youth court and the Adult Criminal Court - both have three magistrates sitting as a Bench, a Clerk of the Court (a highly professional legal advisor) and the Prosecution and Defence lawyers.
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Almost all 10 to 17 year olds will have their case dealt with in the Youth Court (however in certain circumstances they can be tried in an adult court). The Youth Court is a specialised form of magistrates' court. As in the magistrates’ court, the case will be heard by magistrates or by a District Judge (magistrates’ courts). The Youth Court is not open to the general public and only those directly involved in the case will normally be in court.
(c) Magistrates Association
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