Young Offenders
Young Offenders
Australia’s justice system, applies different rules and regulations on which how young offenders are to be treated. Young offenders are those above the ages of 10, however are under the age of 17. Under the Children Proceeding ACT NSW 1987, states that children under the age of 10 are not liable to be charge for criminal intent ( mens rea ) as they are too young, to grasp the situations consequences and are recognised as doli incapax. However, there is a theory that ages from 10 to 14 are unable to develop mens rea this theory is known throughout all criminal jurisdictions within Australia but may become irrelevant if they are able to prove that they were aware of their actions, however proving this is a difficult task.
There are circumstances that nullify the Children Proceeding Act NSW 1987, and this will lead to the young offender or offenders to be sentenced and trialled as an adult which will be contradicting the presumption of the theory and the Act. The reason of this is determined by crime that the individual has committed, if the crime was to be perceived as a well strategized and thought out offence than the individual will be treated as an adult since the court will be taking that into account. The usual reason in which why they are not trialled as adults usually is that, young offenders are seen to be still immature and haven’t fully grasped the concept of their own criminal responsibility; this is due to the brain being under developed as it hasn’t reached it final stage of development yet. There are cases which prove this wrong such as “Teenager admits machete murder” the culprit is cannot be named as he was still a minor during the time of the incident. Even in the past the legal system is still protecting him due to his age in the past, and as a result the court takes into account that he was a minor when he committed this serious offence. Even when giving evidence children are treated differently as law states that before
Australia’s justice system, applies different rules and regulations on which how young offenders are to be treated. Young offenders are those above the ages of 10, however are under the age of 17. Under the Children Proceeding ACT NSW 1987, states that children under the age of 10 are not liable to be charge for criminal intent ( mens rea ) as they are too young, to grasp the situations consequences and are recognised as doli incapax. However, there is a theory that ages from 10 to 14 are unable to develop mens rea this theory is known throughout all criminal jurisdictions within Australia but may become irrelevant if they are able to prove that they were aware of their actions, however proving this is a difficult task.
There are circumstances that nullify the Children Proceeding Act NSW 1987, and this will lead to the young offender or offenders to be sentenced and trialled as an adult which will be contradicting the presumption of the theory and the Act. The reason of this is determined by crime that the individual has committed, if the crime was to be perceived as a well strategized and thought out offence than the individual will be treated as an adult since the court will be taking that into account. The usual reason in which why they are not trialled as adults usually is that, young offenders are seen to be still immature and haven’t fully grasped the concept of their own criminal responsibility; this is due to the brain being under developed as it hasn’t reached it final stage of development yet. There are cases which prove this wrong such as “Teenager admits machete murder” the culprit is cannot be named as he was still a minor during the time of the incident. Even in the past the legal system is still protecting him due to his age in the past, and as a result the court takes into account that he was a minor when he committed this serious offence. Even when giving evidence children are treated differently as law states that before