In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. Minor may also be used in contexts that are unconnected to the overall age of majority. For example, the smoking and drinking age in the United States is 21, and younger people below this age are sometimes called minors in the context of tobacco and alcohol law, even if they are at least 18. The terms underage or minor often refer to those under the age of majority, but may also refer to a person under other legal age limits, such as the age of consent, marriageable age, driving age, voting age, working age, etc. Such age limits are often different from the age of majority.
The Don Dale Youth Detention Centre is a facility for juvenile detention in the Northern Territory, Australia, located in Berrimah, east of Darwin. It is a detention centre for male and female juvenile delinquents. The facility is named after Don Dale, a former Member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1983 to 1989 and one-time Minister for Correctional Services.
Symonston Correctional Centre is a former minimum security Australian prison located in Symonston, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Its recent capacity was 22 when in use. It was formerly the Quamby Children's Remand Centre, and later the Symonston Periodic Detention Centre.
Juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, children who commit a crime are treated differently from legal adults who have committed the same offense.
In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC), juvenile detention, juvenile jail, juvenile hall, or more colloquially as juvie/juvy or the Juvey Joint, also sometimes referred to as observation home or remand home is a prison for people under the age of majority, to which they have been sentenced and committed for a period of time, or detained on a short-term basis while awaiting trial or placement in a long-term care program. Juveniles go through a separate court system, the juvenile court, which sentences or commits juveniles to a certain program or facility.
Winlaton Youth Training Centre was a Government owned and run female youth correctional facility located on 18 acres (73,000 m2) at 186 Springvale Road Nunawading, Victoria, Australia. The facility was designed to accommodate 14- to 18-year-old wards of the state. It opened in 1956 as the Winlaton Juvenile School, and closed in 1993 as the Nunawading Youth Residential Facility. A housing estate now occupies the site.
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA) is a United States federal law providing formula grants to states that follow a series of federal protections on the care and treatment of youth in the juvenile justice and criminal justice systems.
A Department of Juvenile Justice is a system for treating juvenile delinquency.
The Children's Court of New South Wales is a court within the Australian court hierarchy established in 1905. The current iteration was established on 18 January 1988 pursuant to the Children's Court Act 1987 (NSW) which deals with criminal offences committed by children aged over 10 years and under 18 years, as well as with proceedings relating to the care and protection of children. The court is located in the Parramatta Justice Precinct.
Juvenile law pertains to those who are deemed to be below the age of majority, which varies by country and culture. Usually, minors are treated differently under the law. However, even minors may be prosecuted as adults.
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 youth justice system in England and Wales comprises the organs and processes that are used to prosecute, convict and punish persons under 18 years of age who commit criminal offences. The principal aim of the youth justice system is to prevent offending by children and young persons.
The United States incarcerates more of its youth than any other country in the world, through the juvenile courts and the adult criminal justice system, which reflects the larger trends in incarceration practices in the United States. In 2010, approximately 70,800 juveniles were incarcerated in youth detention facilities alone. As of 2006, approximately 500,000 youth were brought to detention centers in a given year. This data does not reflect juveniles tried as adults. As of 2013, around 40% were incarcerated in privatized, for-profit facilities.
The youth justice system in New Zealand consists of organisations and processes that deal with offending by children aged 10–13 years and young people aged 14–16 years. These differ from general criminal processes, and are governed by different principles.
Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 has been passed by Parliament of India amidst intense controversy, debate, and protest on many of its provisions by Child Rights fraternity. It replaced the Indian juvenile delinquency law, Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, and allows for juveniles in conflict with Law in the age group of 16–18, involved in Heinous Offences, to be tried as adults. The Act also sought to create a universally accessible adoption law for India, overtaking the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (1956) and the Guardians and Wards Act (1890), though not replacing them. The Act came into force from 15 January 2016.
Juvenile detention in the Northern Territory is administered by Territory Families, since a departmental reorganisation following the Labor victory at the August 2016 Northern Territory general election. Juvenile detention is mostly operated through two facilities - the Alice Springs Juvenile Holding Centre in Alice Springs, and the Don Dale Juvenile Detention Centre in eastern Darwin. These had previously been administered by the Department of Correctional Services. A juvenile is a child between the age of 10 and 17.
The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory is a Royal Commission established in 2016 by the Australian Government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and report upon failings in the child protection and youth detention systems of the Government of the Northern Territory. The establishment of the commission followed revelations broadcast on 25 July 2016 by the ABC TV Four Corners program which showed abuse of juveniles held in the Don Dale Juvenile Detention Centre in Darwin.
The New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice, a department of the Government of New South Wales, is responsible for the delivery of services to some of the most disadvantaged individuals, families and communities; and the administration and development of a just and equitable legal system of courts, tribunals, laws and other mechanisms that further the principles of justice in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It also provides services to children and young people, families, people who are homeless, people with a disability, their families and carers, women, and older people. The department is the lead agency of the Stronger Communities cluster of the New South Wales government.
The Youth Koori Court (YKC) is a court tailored to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people who engage with the criminal justice system in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It operates out of the Children's Court of New South Wales. The first such court was established in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta in 2015, with another created in Surry Hills to serve the city of Sydney in early 2019, and the first regional YKC established in Dubbo in 2022. The YKC involves older members of the Aboriginal community to help the youths to engage with their culture, among other measures.
