Youth Justice - Court proceedings
There are three levels of criminal courts in England and
Wales:
- Crown court
- Magistrates court
- Youth court
A young person will usually be seen by the youth court unless
the day they are to go to court is not a youth court day (most
areas only run youth courts on certain days of the week). If the
young person appears on a day when there is no youth court, they
will be seen in adult court (magistrate's). In this case, the
magistrates will decide whether to send the case to the youth court
on another day, or to keep it in magistrate's court.
If the young person is jointly charged with an adult, the
magistrates will have to decide if the two defendants should be
kept together or if the adult should be dealt with in magistrate's
court, and the young person in youth court.
If the offence that the young person has been charged with is
serious enough, or if the adult they are charged with chooses to be
dealt with in Crown court, the magistrates can send the case there.
(In the case of serious crimes this is called a 'Committal'.)