8,081
edits
Changes
→Young people and criminal law
* Young people don’t go to the same court as adults. There is a special youth court. The judge in youth court will make sure young people get a lawyer.
* People 18 years old or older who break the law are adults and have to go to adult court.
==What happens to youth who commit a crime ==
The first time a young person aged 12 to 17 years does something wrong, he or she will not usually have to go to court. The young person may get help from a local community group.
Maybe it’s not the first time a young person has been in trouble. Or maybe it is something more serious. Maybe the young person had a weapon such as a knife or gun. Then he or she will have to go to youth court.
If the judge at the court decides the young person is guilty, the youth is called a young offender. The youth will have a youth record.
The judge might:
*make the young person pay a fine,
*make the young person pay for damage with money or with work,
*have the young person do some volunteer work in the community,
*let the young person go home, but someone from the court will check on the young person for up to two years, or
*have the young person go to jail if the crime is serious.