The Law Handbook 2024

44 Section 1: Understanding our laws and courts 6 With or without conviction, place the young person on probation for up to 12 months or, if the offence is serious, up to 18 months. A probation officer is appointed to supervise a young person. The young person must report to the probation officer as required and obey the probation officer’s reasonable directions. There are also other conditions of probation, such as the requirement to be of good behaviour. The probation officer should be seen as someone whose job it is to assist the young person, but who has the power to take the case back to court if the young person breaches their probation conditions. A probation order may extend to the young person’s 21st birthday. 7 With or without conviction, place the young person on a youth supervision order for up to 12 months or, if the offence is serious, up to 18 months. A youth supervision order involves more intensive supervision than probation. It may include community work as directed by the DFFH. 8 With conviction, place a young person over 15 years but under 19 on a youth attendance order for up to 52 weeks. A magistrate can only impose a youth attendance order if they would otherwise be considering a period of detention in a youth detention centre. The order involves attendance at a youth attendance project for up to 10 hours per week (up to four hours may involve community service). A breach of a youth attendance order usually results in a custodial sentence. A youth attendance order can extend to a young person’s 21st birthday. 9 With conviction, place the young person on a youth control order for up to 12 months (in circumstances where the court considers that the young person would otherwise be sentenced to detention). The youth control order is intended to provide judicially supervised intensive supervision and to penalise the child by restricting their liberty. 10 With conviction, sentence a young person under 15 to detention in a youth residential centre . A magistrate must be satisfied that the circumstances and nature of the offence(s) are serious and that no other sentence is appropriate. A youth residential centre sentence cannot exceed one year for a single offence, or two years for multiple offences. The youth residential centre for both young men and young women is in Parkville. 11 With conviction, sentence a young person who is over 15 years to detention in a youth detention centre for a maximum of three years for one offence and four years for multiple offences. A magistrate must be satisfied that no other sentence is appropriate. The youth detention centres are in Parkville. 12 If another person’s property was damaged or not recovered as a result of an offence, a magistrate may order that the young person pay compensation or make restitution to a maximum amount of $1000 (s 417 CYF Act). In doing so, a magistrate must take into account the young person’s financial circumstances. A magistrate must not impose a sentence unless they are satisfied that it is not appropriate to impose a lesser sentence (s 361). Committal proceedings in the Children’s Court If a charge involves death (murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, child homicide, defensive homicide, culpable driving causing death, arson causing death) it must be heard in an adult court (i.e. the Supreme Court) by a judge and jury. For other serious (indictable charges) if the young person (or, in limited circumstances, the parents) so desires, or if the magistrate decides that it is appropriate for the case to be decided by a judge and jury the matters may be heard in the County Court (s 356 CYF Act). If that happens, committal proceedings will usually take place in the Children’s Court. The object of committal proceedings is for the magistrate to decide whether there is enough evidence to support a finding of guilt against the young person. If so, the magistrate will commit the young person for trial. At trial, the evidence will again be heard, but a jury will decide whether or not the young person is guilty. Until recently, very few young people have been committed to stand trial in a higher court. However, legislative changes made in 2018 will inevitably result in more young people being committed to stand trial. This will particularly be the case for those over 16 who have been charged with very serious offences. In these cases, the prosecution must consent to the Children’s Court hearing the charges first.