Court for Children

c) State the jurisdiction of the court that will hear Joey’s case. Discuss the special features of this court that distinguish it from other courts.

The court that will hear Joey’s case is the Court for Children. As stated in the passage Joey is just 15 years old and it means that he had not attained the age of majority yet.

Court for Children were established by the Child Act 2011 (Act 611) (Child Act 2001). The court for Children replaced Juvenile courts set up under the Juvenile Courts Act 1947 (Act 90), one of the statutes repealed by the Child Act 2001. Section 2 (1) of the Child Act 2001 defined a child as a person who is under the age of 18. Section2 (2) of the same act said that according to section 82 of the Penal Code, there is no such thing of criminal offenses done by a person who has attained the age of criminal responsibility.

Court for Children shall have the jurisdiction to try all offenses by child offenders, except those punishable by death as stated under section 11 (5). The criminal procedure code applies to Court for Children like the Magistrates court upon any modification or extension of the Child Act 2001.The court is very careful with the wording of ‘conviction’ and ‘sentence’ to be used if the child found guilty. The court use ‘a finding of guilt’ and ‘order made upon a finding of guilt’ are used instead as mentioned in section 91 (2).

If an offense is proven, the court for children must consider a probation report and seek the opinion of each of the advisers before deciding on the judgment. There are several orders that the court may impose upon a finding of guilt. According to section 91 (a) of the Child Act 2001, the court may admonish and discharge the child. Section 91 (b) of the same act allows the court to discharge the child after the child completed their bond and if they are in a good manner and to comply with any conditions required by the court. Other three punishments that have been stated in the section 91 (c), 91 (d)...