An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers
This is very much a ‘hands-on’ book written by Mike Watkins and Diane Johnson from Waterside Press, with a foreword from Chris Stanley. The trio have considerable experience of the workings of this first rung criminal court which handles well in excess of 95% of youth offending with a team of mainly legally unqualified justices who give of their time to serve their local communities. Members of “The Bench” remain the unsung heroes of civic life, especially in this jurisdiction.
Whether you read the book cover to cover, or selectively as a reference to specific areas, you will find your understanding of the youth justice system in England and Wales immeasurably enhanced. Examining in depth the roles of the youth court, police, Crown prosecutors, youth offending teams (YOTs) and youth offending panels (YOPs), this extremely useful work deals with the full spectrum of youth justice processes and issues, beginning with Chris Stanley's foreword which contains a brief yet fascinating history of youth justice.
For example, did you know that the youth court is 100 years old? It was established by the Children Act 1908 and implemented in April 1909. The Act represented a reform and reflected an evolving change in public attitude which, in fact, was a long time in coming, following the scandal in 1833 of the nine year old Nicholas White sentenced to death for stealing items worth two pence, although the sentence was commuted to whipping and transportation.
The youth justice system continues inevitably to reflect public attitudes and, of course, political will of the current agenda. For example, the key provision of the 1933 Children and Young Persons Act still remains with us, creating the principle, explained by the authors, that the court should have regard to the welfare of the child.
‘It remains with us today’, Stanley explains,' now sitting alongside the new over-arching principles of sentencing youths issued by the Sentencing Guideline Council (SGC) following the recently implemented Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, the assessment of “seriousness” as introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 1991, and the principal aim of the Youth Justice System which is to prevent offending and thereby re-offending.
Obviously the YJS falls far short of this noble aim, prompting the authors and so many others who work in the system to call for change. We were impressed by Stanley's suggestion that since much of youth crime is generated by family dysfunction and is therefore well nigh intractable, the youth and family jurisdictions in England and Wales should be combined, as in Scotland for the last 40 years, to form a Family Justice Court which deals with young people ‘holistically, with care and crime handling together.’
With graphs, tables, diagrams, a glossary of terms, timeline and useful index, not to mention expert commentary and analysis based on the practical hands-on experience of the authors, this book will help guide you through the complexities of the Youth Justice System of England and Wales as it is at present, following the reforms of 2009.
It's obviously a must for youth workers, police and magistrates, it should also be required reading for anyone dealing directly or indirectly with youth justice because this is ‘youth law’ explained and reviewed for 2010.