Statutes Amendment (Youth Court) Bill 2015

The South Australian Parliament has recently passed the Statutes Amendment (Youth Court) Bill 2015 through its Legislative Council. The Bill amends the Youth Court Act 1993 and the Young Offenders Act 1993 to redesign the composition of the South Australian Youth Court.

The Bill will change the composition of the current Youth Court so that the principal judicial officer of the Youth Court will be the Judge. The person appointed to the office of Judge of the Youth Court must be a District Court Judge or the Chief Magistrate. The remaining judicial officers on the Youth Court will be magistrates and special justices.

The Purpose of the Bill

South Australian Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Gail Gago, introduced the bill in 2014 as part of the endeavour to transform criminal justice and deliver a criminal justice system that is fair, effective, efficient and accessible. Ms. Gago clarified that the bill does not change the jurisdiction of the Youth Court but merely focuses on its composition and to alter the day to day work undertaken by magistrates so that they can hear and determine major indictable trials.

Ms. Gago argued that magistrates preside over major indictable criminal matters on a daily basis and this shouldn’t be different in a Youth Court. She stated “the classification of an offence does not necessarily reflect the complexity of a trial. It is the case that there are minor indictable matters that are complex, and major indictable matters that are straightforward.” Further to this, she noted that very few major indictable matters proceed to trial in the Youth Court.

The Bill also makes other consequential amendments including  allowing magistrates to impose a sentence of detention of up to three years, allowing magistrates to hear applications for extensions of time on an investigation or assessment order under the Children’s Protection Act, and allowing magistrates to hear applications under the Adoption Act and the Family Relationships Act.

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.

Statutes Amendment (Youth Court) Bill 2015 as reproduced in Timebase LawOne