NCJ Number
196599
Date Published
July 2002
Length
51 pages
Annotation
This research project was based on interviews, conducted in 6 locations in New South Wales, Australia, between March to December 2000, with 24 young people, concerning their experiences of cautions and conferences under the Young Offenders Act, along with questionnaires completed by youth liaison officers and Youth Justice Conference Administrators.
Abstract
Three levels of intervention were created by the Young Offenders Act in order to create diversionary processes for young people alleged to have committed criminal offenses and to refocus resources on prevention rather than a law and order response to juvenile crime. The young people interviewed were between the ages of 12 and 17 years. More than 80 percent were born in Australia, 13 percent indicated they were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders, and 25 percent said their parents were born overseas. Topics covered in this research project included issues arising from the research, such as Section 10 of the Act, concerning a responsible adult; criminal responsibility; detention after arrest; the right not to proceed with a caution or conference; unfair treatment; legal advice; and a case study. It was concluded that consent, procedural safeguards, review and accountability, monitoring, and protection were issues that needed to be addressed to correct deficiencies in the present system and assure that juveniles are treated fairly as the Act intended. Three chapters are devoted to the Youth Justice Coalition, in general, covering a brief description and history, the Young Offenders Act of 1997, development and aims of the research project, and adopting a human rights framework. Methodology is covered with discussions of research methods, the YJC Subcommittee, and the collation of data. Research findings are reviewed with information on the questionnaires given to administrators and youth liaison officers, the interviews with young people, sample size and demographics, cautions and conferences, legal advice, inducements, fairness of treatment, responsible adult present, age of criminal responsibility, detention after arrest, cautions-further details, and conferences-further details. The report concludes with recommendations for the future to assure that the Act adequately establishes an alternative to court proceedings for children who commit certain offenses. Three appendices including sample questionnaires that were administered ends this report.