Britain’s youth courts are ‘not fit for purpose’

Youth courts in Britain are in chaos, the children’s commissioner has warned, as research revealed cases can drag on for as long as 18 months. Anne Longfield called for a review into the youth justice system amid concerns that it is no longer fit for purpose. Ms Longfield said a youth court was “not a child-friendly environment”. It comes as new data revealed criminal cases involving children now take nearly 40 per cent longer than in 2010.

BRITAIN’S youth courts are in chaos, the children’s commissioner has said, as research revealed cases can drag on for as long as 18 months.

Anne Longfield called for a wholesale review into how children face justice amid concerns the system is no longer fit for purpose.

The commissioner, whose office promotes and protects the rights of children, said youth court was “not a child-friendly environment where you could help a young person and is not meeting standards that we had hoped”.

She intervened as new data revealed criminal cases involving children take nearly 40 per cent longer than in 2010, at an average of 491 days in Britain’s slowest region, Sussex Central.

Reoffending rates have also risen sharply, with more than 40 per cent committing another crime within a year of being convicted and cautioned in 2017, compared with 28 per cent of adults.

The figures were obtained by The Guardian as part of an investigation into the youth justice system, which also discovered some child defendants appeared in court without legal representation or an appropriate adult. It was claimed that youth courts were plagued by a litany of procedural concerns, including children being placed in handcuffs as they were brought into a secure dock behind bulletproof glass, despite such measures only being recommended for dangerous offenders.

Ms Longfield claimed her office had been so shocked by their visits to youth courts that they had planned a project to scrutinise them in more detail.

“We have been going into youth courts too and seen first-hand what is largely chaos and dysfunction,” she told the newspaper. “It was not an efficient or indeed child-friendly environment where you could really help a child. Not a productive environment. [It’s] chaotic, dysfunctional and not meeting standards that we had hoped.”

Budget cuts at the Ministry of Justice have led to the closure of around half of magistrates’ courts – where youth courts are housed in England and Wales – leaving children travelling up to 50 miles for hearings, the report claimed.

Youth offending teams have reportedly seen budgets cut by more than £80 million between 2010 and 2018, after the number of children cautioned or convicted in England and Wales dropped sharply over the same period.

Last year 26,681 young offenders were cautioned or convicted, compared with 106,969 in 2010.

But it was reported that thousands of children are now left in limbo for months and in some cases years after being released “under investigation”.

In youth cases, Greater Manchester Police failed to take decisions on 100 rapes and one murder in 2018-19, leaving both suspects and victims in limbo, it was reported.

The Ministry of Justice was approached for comment.