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The Children's Court of Victoria is a statutory court created in Victoria, Australia. The court deals with criminal offences alleged to be committed by children aged between 10 and 17 and with proceedings concerning children under the age of 17 relating to the care and protection of children.
The treatment of juvenile offenders in the colony of Victoria reflected the system of criminal law inherited from England. There was nothing unusual in that as the law of Australia at that time was heavily influenced by the social norms of English society. Children criminals were treated no differently than adult criminals, and there was little distinction in the way penalties were imposed. Children were liable to the same harsh penalties as adults, such as flogging, imprisonment and even death. The Judicial Commission of New South Wales cites an example of one English judge who, after condemning a 10-year-old boy to death, described the boy as “a proper subject for capital punishment”. The commission also noted that on one day in 1815, five children aged between eight and 12 years were hanged for petty larceny in England.
Victoria in the early 1900s was making progress towards a more enlightened method of dealing with juvenile offenders. Some justices of the peace (called magistrates) informally treated children in different ways. One magistrate arranged for children to be flogged in private rather than endure a public one. Civic minded individuals volunteered or were prevailed upon to provide home in the country for wayward children. David McCullum notes that this was seen as a “ready made mechanism for the reform of habit”. [1] Being diverted away from their “evil surroundings” would hopefully change the child's course of life. Other individuals would act as a volunteer and become what court officials are now known as “probation officers” and provide information to magistrates about the child appearing before the court.
The Victorian government established the children's court in 1906 shortly after the creation of a similar court in New South Wales (see, the Children's Court of New South Wales). The Children's Court Act 1906 provided that children's matters were to be dealt with separately from adult matters. The new law also established “probation officers” who were to provide information to the court on a child's habits and conduct. This now formalised the previous voluntary basis of supervisions. However, probation officers continued to be volunteers until around 1916 when paid agents were employed to visit country homes. In 1906, the then children's court dealt with 3,303 young people. [2]
The present children's court was established in 1989 under section 8 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1989 (Vic). The new court replaced the previous children's court which operated as a division of the Magistrates Court of Victoria. [3] The court was established following a committee report by Professor Terry Carney which made a number of recommendations concerning child welfare in Victoria. [2]
The new court was given the name “The Children's Court of Victoria”, although the word “the” is usually dropped from its title in actual usage. It originally had jurisdiction to hear cases involving young persons up to the age of 17 years. Seventeen-year-olds were dealt with by adult courts. The court at that time was divided into a Criminal Division, handling most crimes committed by young person, and a Family Division, which handled cases involving the care and protection of young persons. In 2000, the court was re-organised. Instead of a senior magistrate heading the court, the head of the court was now to be called the president of the court. The president was to be a county court judge, a middle tier court, rather than a judicial officer from a lower tier court. The court also acquired a Koori Division, a division of the court that could deal with young offenders of an aboriginal background. This initiative was similar to the Koori Court set up in Victoria for adult aboriginal offenders. [2]
The Children and Young Persons Act 1989 (Vic) was replaced by the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic). The court established under section 8 of the old law was continued in existence by section 504 of the new Act, and is the same court as that was established in 1989.
The court is constituted under section 504 of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic). The court consists of a president, magistrates, and registrars of the court. [4] A court sits with a single judicial officer, either the president or a magistrate. In some cases, a registrar may be entitled to sit as the court for certain procedural matters.
The court is split into four divisions. The Family Division deals with protection and care of any person under the age of 17 years, making intervention orders, determining guardianship (in other words, becoming a ward of the State), and therapeutic treatment orders. Orders may be made where either the “aggrieved family member” or the defendant is under the age of 18 years at the time the application is made.
The Criminal Division deals with criminal offences committed by young person aged 10 years or over, but less than 18 years at the time the crime was committed. The court can continue to hear the case until the person turn 19 years of age. The division can deal with any criminal offence except for crimes of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, arson which causes death, or the culpable driving of a motor vehicle which causes death. In respect of these offences, the division conducts a committal proceeding to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the child to stand trial in front of a judge and jury in the County Court of Victoria or Supreme Court of Victoria. In Victoria (as elsewhere in Australia), children aged nine years or younger cannot be charged with criminal offences. [5]
The Koori Court (Criminal Division) deals with criminal offences concerning children from aboriginal backgrounds. When exercising its jurisdiction, it must hear cases with as little formality and technicality as possible. The division may only hear cases where the child is Aboriginal, the offence is not a sexual offence, the child intends to plead guilty to the offence, or has been found guilty of the offence, and the child consents to the proceeding being dealt with by the Koori Court. The court deals with matters on the circle sentencing principles.
The Neighbourhood Justice Division was introduced on 2 January 2007. [6] It deals with criminals by children who are homeless or who are Koori with a ‘close connection’ to the area in which the division is specified to sit. It deals with crimes on a restorative basis.
When the court sits in one of its divisions, it may not deal with cases from another division at the same time.
The senior judicial officer of the court is the president. The president is appointed by the Governor of Victoria under section 508 for a term of up to five years. The president may be re-appointed by the governor for further terms of five years at a time. Along with New Zealand and the Australian States of South Australia, Queensland and in Western Australia, the person to be appointed to head the children's court must be a judge of a middle tier court, which in Victoria is the County Court of Victoria.
The governor may also appoint a magistrate to act as the president in the president's absence. If the governor does not appoint an acting president, the Chief Magistrate of Victoria is automatically appointed to act. The first president of the court was Jennifer Coate. The present president is Judge Jack Vandersteen. The president may after consultation with the chief magistrate, assign magistrates as magistrates of the children's court. When assigned, magistrates hold dual appointment as magistrates of the Magistrates Court as well as magistrates of the children's court.
A principal registrar and other registrars may be appointed to the court from time to time. Additionally, the secretary of the Department of Justice may appoint members of the aboriginal community to be “aboriginal elders” to constitute the Koori Court. [7]
The court sits permanently in Melbourne on a daily basis. The court also has headquarter courts where the court sits principally. From these headquarter courts, the court will sit in certain towns or suburbs as necessary. The court sits at:
There may be rights of appeals from certain decisions of the court. If the decision was made by the president, then a right of appeal may lie to the Supreme Court of Victoria. If the decision was made by a magistrate, then an appeal might lie to the County Court of Victoria.
On a question of law, there may be a right of appeal directly to the Supreme Court of Victoria in certain circumstances.
The court attracted controversy in 2004 when it made a “divorce” order between a fourteen-year-old child and his mother. The case was actually an “irreconcilable differences” application, a very uncommon application. [8] The case attracted national media attention and led to news crews naming the child and broadcasting footage of the residence and school of the child. This was in contravention of child protection laws which prevent the naming of children the subject of court proceedings. The publication of this information led to the prosecution of a newspaper and a television broadcaster for criminal offences. The saga led to the president of the court writing to the media organisation reminding them of the child protection laws. [9]
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or puisne court, elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the same meaning. Depending on the jurisdiction, such justices dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions. Justices of the peace are appointed or elected from the citizens of the jurisdiction in which they serve, and are usually not required to have any formal legal education in order to qualify for the office. Some jurisdictions have varying forms of training for JPs.
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judicial and executive powers. In other parts of the world, such as China, magistrate is a word applied to a person responsible for administration over a particular geographic area. Today, in some jurisdictions, a magistrate is a judicial officer who hears cases in a lower court, and typically deals with more minor or preliminary matters. In other jurisdictions, magistrates are typically trained volunteers appointed to deal with criminal and civil matters in their local areas.
The Magistrates' Court of Victoria is the lowest court in the Australian state of Victoria.
The Local Court of New South Wales is the lowest court in the judicial hierarchy of the Australian state of New South Wales. Formerly known as the Court of Petty Sessions and the Magistrates Court, there are more than 160 branches across New South Wales where the Local Court has jurisdiction to deal with the majority of minor civil and criminal matters.
A Koori Court is a separate division of the Magistrates', County and Children's Courts of Victoria, Australia. The Koori Court (Magistrates), Children's Koori Court, and County Koori Court hear selected cases, where Indigenous Australians have identified as such and requested the case be transferred to it. The first Koori Court was established in Shepparton in 2002. Koori Court aims to reduce recidivism by involving Elders, other respected persons in the Aboriginal community, and court advisors to provide information about the background of the defendant, and to advise on culturally appropriate sentences.
The County Court of Victoria is the intermediate court in the Australian state of Victoria. It is equivalent to district courts in the other states.
The criminal law of Australia is the body of law in Australia that relates to crime.
The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state.
The ages of consent for sexual activity vary from age 15 to 18 across Australia, New Zealand and other parts of Oceania. The specific activity and the gender of its participants is also addressed by the law. The minimum age is the age at or above which an individual can engage in unfettered sexual relations with another person of minimum age. Close in age exceptions may exist and are noted where applicable. In Vanuatu the homosexual age of consent is set higher at 18, while the heterosexual age of consent is 15. Same sex sexual activity is illegal at any age for males in Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Samoa, Niue, Tonga and Tuvalu; it is outlawed for both men and women in the Solomon Islands. In all other places the age of consent is independent of sexual orientation or gender.
The Magistrates Court of South Australia is the lowest level court in the state of South Australia. The Magistrates Court, then known as the Court of Petty Sessions, was established in 1837, by the Court of Sessions Act 1837. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction and hears matters specified in the Magistrates Court Act 1991 (SA).
The Youth Justice Court of the Northern Territory is an Australian court which hears and determines cases concerning crimes committed by children under the age of 18 years in the Northern Territory.
The Local Court of the Northern Territory is one of two levels of court in the Northern Territory of Australia. It has jurisdiction in civil disputes up to A$250,000, and in criminal cases in the trial of summary offences, and also deals with preliminary matters for indictable offences which are then heard by the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. There are local courts held in Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant Creek, and some "bush courts" in remote locations.
The Court of Summary Jurisdiction is a court in the Northern Territory of Australia. It has jurisdiction to deal with criminal offences which occur in the territory. It is one of the courts that is usually referred to as a magistrates court.
The Children's Court of Queensland is a specialized court in Queensland, a state of Australia which deals with serious crimes committed by children under the age of seventeen years in the state.
The Magistrates Court of the Australian Capital Territory is a court of summary jurisdiction that deals with the majority of criminal law matters and the majority of small civil law matters in the Australian Capital Territory, the Jervis Bay Territory and the Australian Antarctic Territory.
A diversion program, also known as a pretrial diversion program or pretrial intervention program, in the criminal justice system is a form of pretrial sentencing that helps remedy behavior leading to the arrest. Administered by the judicial or law enforcement systems, they often allow the offender to avoid conviction and include a rehabilitation program to prevent future criminal acts. Availability and the operation of such systems differ in different countries.
Aboriginal Community Court, or Aboriginal court was the name given to the specialised courts dealing with Indigenous Australian offenders in the state of Western Australia between 2006 and 2015.
The Code of Criminal Procedure commonly called Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India. It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974. It provides the machinery for the investigation of crime, apprehension of suspected criminals, collection of evidence, determination of guilt or innocence of the accused person and the determination of punishment of the guilty. It also deals with public nuisance, prevention of offences and maintenance of wife, child and parents.
In the Australian legal system, a good behaviour bond is a type of non-custodial sentence which involves the condition of the offender's "good behaviour" for a set period. The condition of "good behaviour" primarily requires the offender to obey the law, but may also include additional probation officer supervision, mandatory medical treatment or participation in rehabilitation, counselling and intervention programs. These imposed conditions are determined by state legislation and at the magistrate's discretion. A good behaviour bond may be established with or without a recorded legal conviction for the offence. The specific conditions which constitute a good behaviour bond, as well as the consequences for breaching them, vary under each Australian state or territory's legislation, but overall are used most commonly for first-time and juvenile offenders.
The Nunga Court, also known as Aboriginal Sentencing Court, is a type of specialist community court for sentencing Aboriginal people in South Australia. Such courts exist at several locations throughout the state, as a sentencing option for eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders who plead guilty of an offence.
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