Youth Court of New Zealand
The youth justice system in New Zealand comprises organs and processes that deal with offending by children aged 10–13 years and young people aged 14–16 years. These differ from general criminal processes, and are governed by different principles.
New Zealand has historically focused on a welfare model for youth offenders, which put the child’s needs at the forefront. This often involved taking the child away from their family and by putting them into institutions.
The Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 (CYPTFA) signified a shift away from this to a family-based process and justice model, which views state intervention as a last resort. The argument supporting this was that the community needed to be kept together, and these ties were important for helping youth.
New Zealand legislation differentiates justice processes for under-17-year-olds. The CYPTFA governs these processes. They are diversion-focused, and include the dual aim of rehabilitation and accountability.
Other legislation is also relevant, particularly the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA). This includes a child’s right to be dealt with in a manner that takes into account their age.
The CYPTFA creates two separate justice processes for children and youth. This differentiation is based on the attitude that younger people are more vulnerable and have a more immature judgment, and this should be accounted for. The different processes recognise the child or youth’s offending in a manner that acknowledges their higher needs and vulnerability. Thus, levels of culpability are determined by age group. However, major legislative changes now allow children to be prosecuted if the crime is sufficiently severe.
The Act aims to promote the well-being of children, young persons and their families. The process is aimed to reduce the levels of youth incarceration and constructively deal with issues and problems created by youth and children. This is done by holding the child or young person accountable for their behavior and encouraging them to accept responsibility for their offending, while taking into account their needs and ensuring they are given the chance to develop beneficially from the experience.
Principles governing youth justice reflect different objectives from traditional criminal prosecution. These are:
A child under the age of ten cannot be convicted of an offence. If the child is aged 10 or 11, they can be prosecuted for murder or manslaughter. If the offender is aged 12 or 13, they can only be prosecuted for an offence if the maximum penalty is 14 years imprisonment or more, or if the maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment or more if they are a repeat offender and the previous offence had a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment or more. All children aged between 10 and 13 have a rebuttable presumption of incapacity to commit a crime. Young persons aged 14 to 16 may be prosecuted for any crime, unless a higher age limit is stated in the specific legislation (e.g. people under 16 cannot be convicted of incest).
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