Terms defined
In the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) (‘CYF Act’) (s 3), ‘proceeding’ means:
any matter in the court, including a committal proceeding, but does not include the exercise by a registrar of any jurisdiction, power or authority vested in the registrar under schedule 3.
For criminal cases, ‘child’ is defined as (s 3 CYF Act):
a person who at the time of the alleged commission of the offence was under the age of 18 years but of or above the age of 10 years but does not include any person who is of or above the age of 19 years when a proceeding for the offence is commenced in the court.
For child protection cases, a child is defined as a person under 17 years old (unless they are the subject of an ongoing child protection order).
For the purposes of this chapter, the terms ‘child’ and ‘young person’ are used interchangeably and accord with the above definition unless specified to the contrary.
The ‘president’ of the Children’s Court is the head of the court and is a judge of the County Court. The president hears cases in the same way as magistrates at the court.
