« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Section One: Introduction and Background
Introduction
1.1 A pilot Youth Court was introduced at Airdrie Sheriff Court in June 2004. According to the Airdrie Sheriff Youth Court Information and Reference Document (2004) 1 its objectives are to:
- reduce the frequency and seriousness of re-offending by 16 and 17 year old offenders, particularly persistent offenders (and some 15 year olds who are referred to the court);
- promote the social inclusion, citizenship and personal responsibility of these young offenders while maximising their potential;
- establish fast track procedures for those young persons appearing before the Youth Court;
- enhance community safety, by reducing the harm caused to individual victims of crime and providing respite to those communities which are experiencing high levels of crime; and
- test the viability and usefulness of a Youth Court using existing legislation and to demonstrate whether legislative and practical improvements might be appropriate.
1.2 The establishment of the Airdrie Sheriff Youth Court pilot followed the introduction, in June 2003, of a pilot Youth Court at Hamilton Sheriff Court (Popham et al, 2005 2). The pilot courts serve neighbouring Sheriff Court districts in the Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, and Dumfries and Galloway. Airdrie Sheriff Court covers the northern area of North Lanarkshire while Hamilton Sheriff Court serves the rest of North Lanarkshire and the northern part of South Lanarkshire. It is anticipated that the majority of young people appearing before the Airdrie Sheriff Youth Court will reside in North Lanarkshire, though those offending in the Airdrie Sheriff Court area and resident in South Lanarkshire are also eligible to appear.
Operation of the Youth Court
1.3 The Airdrie Youth Court is serviced by multi-disciplinary local authority youth justice teams in North Lanarkshire. They are responsible for providing reports to the court and serving as case managers for those made subject to supervisory orders to ensure that services provided address both the young person's behaviour and their needs. Services are provided by the local authority and by specialist programme providers from the voluntary sector who are contracted by the local authority to provide a range of individual and groupwork opportunities. Sheriffs have the opportunity to review the offender's progress throughout an order 3. Failure to comply with community supervision orders imposed by the Youth Court are dealt with by means of a fast track breach process.
1.4 The referral criteria include, potentially, any 16 and 17 year olds (and appropriate 15 year olds) who are charged by the police and not just those who are deemed 'persistent offenders' 4. All custody and undertaking cases meeting the age and residence requirements (living in North or South Lanarkshire) are referred by the police to the dedicated Youth Court Procurator Fiscal Deputes for marking. Youth Court accused should normally make their first appearance in court within 14 days of the date of charge. Where it is practical to do so, all known outstanding warrants and other charges will be rolled up and taken together. The Youth Court has the same range and powers of sentence as the Sheriff Summary Court. Community supervision orders available to the Youth Court include probation, community service orders, restriction of liberty orders, drug treatment and testing orders and deferred sentences (structured and other). These orders can be imposed singly or in any competent combination.
1.5 In addition to judicial oversight, supervision by multi-disciplinary teams and the availability of a range of additional programmes, other distinguishing features of the Youth Court include:
- fast tracking of young people to and through the court and fast track breach procedures;
- ability to electronically monitor as a condition of bail;
- dedicated staff to support and service the Youth Court (Procurators Fiscal, sheriff clerk, social work)
- additional resources across agencies to enable provision of a consistent, high quality service;
- the formation of a multi-agency Youth Court Advisory Forum, chaired by an Airdrie Sheriff, to review the working and operation of the court;
- appointment of a Youth Court Co-ordinator and Deputy Co-ordinator to service the forum and co-ordinate practice;
- external research and evaluation of the Youth Court's operation and programmes.
1.6 Many of the procedures, agencies and personnel associated with the Airdrie pilot are the same as those in the Youth Court pilot operating in Hamilton. However there are some organisational differences between the 2 pilot sites, which reflect the size of the sheriff courts and anticipated volume of Youth Court cases. For example, the Airdrie Sheriff Youth Court sits one day per week (compared initially to daily in Hamilton) and target timescales for processing cases take account of this.
Evaluation of the Pilot
1.7 A team of researchers from the University of Stirling and the University of Strathclyde was commissioned by the Scottish Executive to undertake an independent evaluation of the pilot Youth Court. The aims of the evaluation were to:
- assess the advantages and disadvantages of this model of Youth Court over existing arrangements for dealing with the target group through other summary courts;
- determine the effectiveness of the Youth Court in relation to process, delivery, outcome and costs;
- assess the overall effectiveness of the Youth Court in achieving its stated objectives; and
- explore the longer-term viability of Youth Courts across Scotland.
1.8 The evaluation of the Airdrie Sheriff Youth Court pilot has focused upon both process and outcomes. An initial phase of fieldwork involved the establishment of certain baseline measures against which the operation and effectiveness of the Youth Court could be assessed. This included demographic information about young people living in North and South Lanarkshire; indices of deprivation; the number and outcome of Social Enquiry Reports prepared on young people appearing before Airdrie Sheriff Court; an inventory of services available to young people made subject to supervisory orders; an analysis of recorded crime rates in North and South Lanarkshire and Scotland as a whole; and an analysis of court proceedings against young people in Airdrie Sheriff Court in 2002 and 2003.
1.9 An interim report presented findings on the operation of the Youth Court pilot over its first 9 months, with a view to providing an early indication of which aspects were working well and which, if any, required to be addressed. This final report focuses upon the operation of the Youth Court over a period of 19 months from June 2004 - December 2005 5. In addition to process issues it examines the influence of the Youth Court on sentencing practice and its effectiveness in reducing offending and related problems.
1.10 The report is organised as follows. Section 2 describes the methods used in the evaluation while the findings are presented in the subsequent 3 sections. Section 3 describes the process of referral to the Youth Court, the criteria employed in identifying potential suitable cases and the characteristics of young people referred. Section 4 focuses upon the progress of cases through the Youth Court (including the associated timescales), the sentences imposed, services provided and review of Youth Court orders. In Section 5 Youth Court outcomes are considered including changes in sentencing and recorded crime, professional perspectives on its effectiveness and recidivism among young people sentenced in the Airdrie Youth Court and in comparator courts serving similar populations. The main findings and their implications are discussed in Section 6.
« Previous | Contents | Next »