Youth Justice - Introduction

Scotland’s Youth Justice System

This section provides a historical overview of the key components of Scotland’s Youth Justice System and the main strategic developments which have shaped the services that we have today. Further detail on specific services, structures and processes are detailed within the Youth Justice Process section of this website.

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Establishment of the Children’s Hearings System
Youth Offending Today
Youth Justice Nationally
Youth Justice Locally

Establishment of the Children’s Hearings System

Scotland’s youth justice system is very different to that of England and Wales, in that children and young people who offend are dealt with by the same structures as those children whose welfare is considered to be at risk. In so doing, the welfare of the child is held to be paramount and the focus of any intervention is on addressing needs which threaten this.

Up until the 1960’s any offending or welfare issues concerning children and young people were dealt with in the juvenile courts, but due to mounting concerns a committee was established under Lord Kilbrandon to look more closely at the needs of children and young people appearing before the courts. In 1964 the Kilbrandon Report, recommended:

• separation between the establishment of issues of disputed fact and decisions on the treatment of the child (meaning that the courts would still be the place in which the establishment of facts, where disputed, are examined, but that the treatment of the child would now be the responsibility of the Children’s Reporter. From 1995, this came under the auspices of the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA);
• the use of a lay panel of trained community volunteers to reach decisions on treatment (this became the Children’s Panel);
• the recognition of the needs of the child as being the first and primary consideration;
• the vital role of the family in tackling children's problems;
• and the adoption of a preventive and educational approach to these problems.

As a result of these recommendations, a radical overhaul of the system for dealing with children and young people was enacted under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, now largely replaced by the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. This was the start of the Children’s Hearings System, and in 1971, Hearings took over much of the responsibility for dealing with children and young people under 16 (or in some cases up to the age of 18) who commit offences or are in need of care or protection.

The Children’s Hearings System is based upon three key principles enshrined in several pieces of legislation. There are three overarching principles:

• The needs of the child are paramount
• The views of the child should be taken into account
• Intervention should not take place unless it will benefit the child

Currently there is no difference in the process to deal with children that come to a Hearing on offence grounds and those who come on non-offence grounds.

Recent changes have been made to the process of Children’s Hearings to ensure that the rights of young people are protected in keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and that they operate in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the three overarching principles remain in place although there are discussions taking place regarding the balance between the needs of a child and their deeds with respect to the disposals used by Reporters and by Hearings for children referred solely on offence grounds.

The main pieces of relevant legislation that impact on the Children’s Hearing System are:

Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 (largely superseded by the Acts below)

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989

Children (Scotland) Act 1995

Human Rights Act 1998

Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004

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Youth Offending Today

Today, children and young people who offend may either be dealt with by a Hearing or by the courts, and which one is used will be determined by their age, the nature of the offence and their previous experiences.

Young people under the age of 16 who are offending are usually referred to the Children’s Reporter or Youth Justice Reporter unless their offence is deemed sufficiently serious to be dealt with by the courts. Young people who are offending and are over the age of 16 will be reported to the Procurator Fiscal and go through the adult justice system unless they are currently involved in the Children’s Hearings System. The Reporter will decide whether to take the matter to a Children’s Hearing and the Procurator Fiscal will determine whether the case should go to court.

Further information on components of Scotland’s youth justice system is provided within the Youth Justice Process section of this website.

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