If You Have to go to Court

If you have to go to court this could be a stressful and difficult time for both you and your family. We will support you through this process, explain what is happening and offer you support whilst you are waiting for your court hearing to take place.

If you are waiting for us to contact you and are in need of help or support please contact us on 0115 915 9400.

Just for Kids Law have produced a short film on what to expect at the Youth Court:

• Click to view Going to Court (YouTube.com)

A Youth Court is a specialist court for children and young people. They are less formal than an adult court and are designed to make it easier for children to know what is happening. You will be called by your first name and, as well as speaking with your solicitor, the judge or magistrates may speak directly to you and may ask you questions.

If you talk to the judge or magistrates, be clear, respectful and polite. Do not interrupt them when they are speaking and do not try to talk over them.

If you are under 16 years old you must attend with a parent or carer. If you are 16 or 17 years old you may attend with a parent, carer or someone who can support you.

When attending Court try to arrive in advance of your scheduled appearance time. This allows you to go through security screenings and find your solicitor and courtroom without feeling rushed.

Please remember to dress appropriately: Choose clean, smart and simple clothing that is suitable for a formal setting, avoiding clothing with offensive slogans or logos.

Remember to turn your phone off to ensure it does not ring when you are in Court.

Most children will go to the Youth Court unless you have been refused bail by the police and there is no youth court available. In this case you will be taken to the adult magistrates’ court for a decision on bail.

At your first appearance the court will usually ask if you are guilty or not guilty.

If you enter a not guilty plea, a future date will be set for a trial. Nottingham Youth Justice Service will keep track of your Court appearances until after the trial, but we will not be involved with you or your family unless the Court request a Bail Support Package, which is supervised by Nottingham Youth Justice Service.

If you enter a guilty plea, you will then be convicted of all or some of the alleged offences. The Court may delay (adjourn) sentencing so that a pre-sentence report can be written by Nottingham Youth Justice Service.

Most cases will stay in the Youth Court until the sentencing process is completed; however, if you are jointly charged with an adult, or it is a more serious case, you may be sent to the adult magistrates’ court or the Crown Court.

If your case is not completely dealt with, the court may give you bail to come back to Court on another day. They may add conditions, such as telling you to attend appointments with the Youth Justice Service for a future appearance, or to stay away from certain people or places.

The Court may also give you an electronically monitored curfew (tag) that says you have to be at home at certain times of the day or night.

We may work with you and the Court to agree a Bail Support Package, to ensure that you get the support you need whilst your case is going through Court.

Remand and Youth Detention Accommodation

If the offences you have been charged with are very serious, or there are concerns that you may not keep to bail conditions, the Court may choose to remand you to youth detention accommodation (remand to custody).

If you are remanded to youth detention accommodation you will be taken to a secure children’s home (SCH), a secure training centre (STC) or a young offenders institute (YOI) until a later date when your trial or sentencing hearing will take place. During this time, you will be supported by a worker at the YJS, a social worker from Nottingham Children’s Services, and workers at your remand placement. We will also offer support and advice to your parents and carers during this time.

Courts have a range of different sentences they can give children aged from 10 to 17.

These include:

Referral Orders:

A referral order is a community sentence is most commonly used by the Youth Courts when sentencing a child, particularly first-time offenders that have pleaded guilty to an offence. A Referral Order can last between 3-12 months.

After a YJS worker completes an assessment with you, you and your parent or carer will attend a Referral Order panel meeting. At this meeting you will meet with your YJS worker and some trained community volunteers and everyone will agree a contract. When your contract is signed, the order will start. The contract will include a plan for any intervention and support that will be completed with you. This will include work you will be expected to do to say sorry for any harm you have caused.

Your Referral Order will be reviewed at a panel with the same people every 3 months until all the work is completed.

Youth Rehabilitation Orders:

A youth rehabilitation order (YRO) is a community sentence used for children who have previously offended or who have not pleaded guilty to the offence. The YRO takes effect on the day that it is ordered and can run for up to three years, until the end of the longest requirement.

Some examples of the requirements that can be imposed include a curfew, supervision, unpaid work, electronic monitoring and specified activity requirements.

Custodial sentences

Children can receive custodial sentences but they will be imposed only in the most serious cases. Sentences can be spent in secure children’s homes, secure training centres and young offender institutions.

If a child or young person between 12 and 17 years old is sentenced in the youth court, they could be given a Detention and Training Order. This can last between four months and two years. For more serious cases, longer-term detention can be imposed in the Crown Court.

Absolute or conditional discharges, and fines

An Absolute discharge is when the court decides not to impose a punishment because the experience of going to court has been punishment enough.

A Conditional discharge means that if you go on to commit another crime in the future, the court can sentence you for the first offence as well as the new one.

Fines may be imposed by the court. If you are under 16, paying the fine is the responsibility of a parent/guardian.

Reparation and repairing the harm:

All YJS orders will include elements of reparation. This means repairing harm to the victims of crime, and to the wider community.

This may include writing a letter of explanation to the victim or engaging in community projects to give back to the community in which the harm was caused.