Youth court procedure - Jurisdiction and handling of grave c...

Learning Outcomes

This article outlines youth court jurisdiction and the handling of grave crimes, including:

• Classification of youth offences—summary-only, either-way, and indictable-only—and its impact on trial venue and process.
• Age requirements, thresholds, and exceptions to youth court jurisdiction, and the statutory basis for Crown Court referral or remittal to the adult magistrates’ court.
• Definition and implications of grave crimes, and the criteria and procedural steps for referral of serious cases to the Crown Court.
• Approach to joint trials involving youths and adults, including suitability of joint hearings and application of the “interests of justice” test.
• Sentencing options in the youth court, their statutory requirements, and thresholds for engaging or exceeding custodial powers.
• The “real prospect” test and its relationship to the youth court’s sentencing sufficiency and Crown Court involvement.
• Procedural safeguards, principles, and policy aims of the youth justice system, including the child’s welfare and preventive intent.

SQE1 Syllabus

For SQE1, you are required to understand youth court jurisdiction and procedure, including the handling of grave crimes and referrals to the Crown Court, with a focus on the following syllabus points:

• The structure and jurisdiction of youth courts, including the statutory basis (Children and Young Persons Act 1933 and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980)
• Principles governing the age of criminal responsibility and youth court’s ability to deal with those aged 10–17, and rules when a youth ages into adulthood during proceedings
• Definition and scope of “grave crimes”: indictable offences for which an adult can receive 14 years or more (including s.18 OAPA 1861, robbery, aggravated burglary, and others)
• When and how grave crimes are referred from youth courts to the Crown Court, including the “real prospect”/sentencing adequacy test and statutory mandatory referrals (e.g., homicide, certain firearms, and dangerous offenders)
• The process, tests, and consequences of allocation for joint adult and youth defendants, including the “interests of justice” test
• Sentencing options and constraints for youth courts: Detention and Training Orders (DTOs), Youth Rehabilitation Orders (YROs), Referral Orders, requirements for “persistent offender” categorisation
• Impact of Sentencing Council Guidelines, welfare principles, prevention aim (s.44 Children and Young Persons Act 1933), and the prohibition on unnecessary criminalisation of young people
• Handling of cross-age cases, joint enterprise, and procedure when a youth is charged alongside adults or with multiple charges of differing seriousness

Test Your Knowledge

Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, remember to look more closely at that area during your revision.

1. At what age does criminal responsibility begin in England and Wales, and what is the upper age limit for youth court jurisdiction?
2. What is a "grave crime" in the context of youth court procedure, and what test must the court apply before sending a youth to the Crown Court?
3. When must a youth be sent to the Crown Court for trial, regardless of the youth court's view?
4. What are the main sentencing options available to the youth court, and what is the maximum custodial sentence it can impose?

Introduction

When a young person is accused of a criminal offence, the case will usually fall within the specialised youth court, which is designed to offer a tailored and welfare-focused response distinct from the adult system. However, serious offences—labelled “grave crimes”—and specific statutory exceptions require careful consideration of jurisdiction, as they may mandate transfer to the Crown Court or adult magistrates’ court. Understanding the boundaries of youth jurisdiction, the process for serious or jointly charged offences, and the court’s sentencing limitations is essential for accurate application of the legal framework in youth justice.

Key Term: youth court
A specialist magistrates’ court designated to hear criminal cases involving defendants aged 10 to 17, operating with modified procedures and sentencing powers to reflect the welfare and rehabilitation needs of young people.

Key Term: age of criminal responsibility
The minimum age at which a person can be prosecuted for a criminal offence in England and Wales—currently 10 years old. No one under this age can be criminally liable: below 10, children are conclusively presumed to lack criminal capacity (doli incapax).

Youth court jurisdiction: age and statutory basis

The youth court’s jurisdiction is predicated upon the defendant’s age at the time of the first court appearance. Defendants aged 10–17 are normally dealt with in the youth court, and this court retains its youth-specific sentencing and procedural powers regardless of the defendant’s date of birth at the date of the alleged offence. Once proceedings have begun, if the defendant reaches age 18 before conclusion of the case, the youth court may either retain the matter (applying youth sentencing powers) or remit it for hearing or sentence in the adult magistrates’ court.

• The primary statutory framework comes from the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (“CYPA 1933”)—notably s.44, which gives importance to the child’s welfare and aims to prevent offending—and the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (“MCA 1980”), which sets out the structure of summary and either-way criminal proceedings.

Youths turning 18 during proceedings

If a defendant turns 18 after proceedings have started, the youth court has discretion—to either complete the trial and sentence using youth powers or to remit the proceedings to the adult magistrates’ court. Importantly, even if the defendant has turned 18 before sentence is passed, the youth court retains all youth sentencing options (s.8 Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000). If remitted, the defendant may be sentenced using adult court powers.

Loss of youth jurisdiction before first appearance

If a defendant turns 18 before the initial court appearance, they fall outside youth court jurisdiction and must be dealt with in the adult magistrates’ court, even if the relevant offence occurred while a child or young person.

• Section 47 CYPA 1933 guides these determinations, and the principle is that the date of first court appearance is decisive, not the age when the alleged offence was committed.

• If a youth is jointly charged and appears with an adult, special allocation processes apply (see below).

Grave crimes: definition and referral to the Crown Court

Some offences are so serious that the youth court’s powers are deemed insufficient: these are “grave crimes”—offences punishable in the case of an adult with 14 years’ imprisonment or more.

Key Term: grave crime
An offence which, for an adult aged 21 or older, carries a maximum sentence of 14 years or more. Grave crimes include—but are not limited to—robbery (Theft Act 1968 s.8), aggravated burglary (Theft Act 1968 s.10), wounding with intent (OAPA 1861 s.18), rape and other serious sexual offences, and certain violent offences.

Key Term: Crown Court referral
The process by which the youth court sends a case to the Crown Court for trial or sentence because its existing powers are, or may be, inadequate for the seriousness of the offence, or where the offence or offender falls within a prescribed statutory exception (e.g., mandatory sentences, homicide, dangerous offenders).

Statutory triggers for Crown Court referral

The law identifies several categories of case where referral from the youth court to the Crown Court is mandatory, and others where it is discretionary but typically required.

• A youth must be sent forthwith to the Crown Court without plea if charged with:
  • Homicide offences (e.g., murder, attempted murder, manslaughter);
  • Certain firearms offences (where the minimum term is prescribed and the defendant is 16+);
  • Grave crimes, if the youth court, applying the “real prospect” test, considers that the appropriate sentence may exceed its 24-month custodial limit;
  • “Specified offences” where the youth is deemed a dangerous offender and the court considers that a sentence of at least four years’ detention would be required;
  • Complex serious fraud cases following notice under s.51B or s.51C Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Note that for homicide or firearms offences (subject to a statutory minimum), no plea is taken in the youth court; the case is sent “forthwith” regardless of perceived sufficiency of youth sentencing powers.

The "real prospect" test

The standard for referral—apart from mandatory offences—is whether there is a real prospect that the youth’s offending and circumstances would require a sentence exceeding the youth court’s usual maximum (a DTO of 24 months, or the higher available for dangerousness). The court must apply the Sentencing Council’s definitive guidelines for children and young people (including age, background, previous history, and aggravating/mitigating features) before determining its sentencing sufficiency.

If, after considering the facts and prior record, the court is satisfied that the likely sentence would not exceed 24 months, it must retain jurisdiction. Only if a longer sentence is a genuine prospect should the case be committed.

Worked Example 1.1

A 15-year-old is charged with aggravated burglary. The youth’s record is clean, and the incident involves entering a dwelling at night with a knife; some threats are uttered, but no actual injury is inflicted.

Answer:
The court must consider Sentencing Council guidelines, including the youth’s lack of prior convictions and the absence of injury. If, having assessed the culpability and harm, there is no real prospect of a sentence exceeding two years, the youth court may retain the case. However, if the facts were more aggravated (e.g., actual violence or group offending), jurisdiction should be relinquished to the Crown Court.

Dangerousness and specified offences

Key Term: dangerous offender
A child or young person may be classed as dangerous if the court forms the view that there is a significant risk to the public of serious harm by further specified offences. (A “specified offence” is one listed in Schedule 18 to the Sentencing Code—primarily violent, sexual, and terrorism offences.)

If the youth court determines, having either heard evidence or upon a plea of guilty, that there is a significant risk of serious harm and the minimum custodial term required would be at least four years, the case must be sent to the Crown Court for sentencing (Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000).

• The court must give reasons and record the basis for this decision on the case papers.

Substantive criteria for “grave crimes”

“Grave crimes” for these purposes are not simply the most serious indictable-only offences. They comprise any offence that, if committed by an adult, is punishable by 14 or more years of imprisonment, unless the sentence is fixed by law (as in murder, which is always referred regardless).

Examples include:

• Robbery (s.8 Theft Act 1968)

• Aggravated burglary (s.10 Theft Act 1968)

• Wounding with intent (s.18 OAPA 1861)

• Manslaughter (always referred due to homicide category)

• Arson with intent to endanger life

• Rape and serious sexual offences

• Other serious specified offences may fall within separate referral regimes, especially where minimum sentences or dangerousness are engaged.

Jointly charged with adults and special jurisdictional cases

Key Term: joint trial
A trial in which a youth and an adult are tried together, usually in the Crown Court if the adult is sent there for a related offence. This arrangement ensures consistency in fact-finding and sentence.

Key Term: interests of justice test (youths and adults)
The legal standard used to decide if a youth charged jointly with an adult should, exceptionally, be tried in the same proceedings, and before which court. The test always places fairness and the circumstances of both defendants at the forefront.

If a youth is jointly charged with an adult, the first appearance will take place in the adult magistrates’ court, with joint charges considered together for initial hearing and allocation. Where the adult is sent to the Crown Court, the court must determine whether the youth should also be sent, or retained in the youth court, according to whether it is in the interests of justice for them to be tried together. If the youth’s alleged conduct is minimally connected or separable, separate trials may be preferred, especially to protect the youth or avoid prejudice.

In these cases, the court should consider the complexity of the evidence, whether the accounts of adult and youth defendants are linked, the impact of publicity, and the welfare of the young person.

• Generally, joint trial is favoured only when: separation would risk inconsistent verdicts; evidence is so interlinked it would be impractical or impossible to try the youth separately; or there would be clear value in the youth and adult being tried together for reasons of procedural justice.

Allocation framework for joint defendants

The process is as follows:

• If an adult is sent for trial to the Crown Court (on an either-way or indictable-only matter), the court considers whether the offence is a grave crime or triggers a mandatory referral.
• If so, the youth will be sent to the Crown Court for trial if the interests of justice so require.
• If not, a plea before venue is conducted for the youth, and an allocation hearing determines whether the youth is tried jointly with the adult.

Considerations for the interests of justice

Case law and guidance emphasise the youth’s best interests, the complexity and fairness of the process, the gravity of the offence, and the possible prejudice arising from being tried in an adult court.

• The “interests of justice” standard applies only after it is determined that the youth’s case is not compulsorily referable pursuant to grave crime, homicide, firearms, or dangerousness provisions.
• Sentencing may remain in the youth court even if the adult co-defendant is convicted and sentenced as an adult.

Worked Example 1.2

A 16-year-old with one non-violent conviction and a 20-year-old adult are jointly charged with aggravated burglary, having allegedly entered a dwelling armed and threatened occupants. Both deny the offence.

Answer:
The case may need to go to the Crown Court for trial, if there is a real prospect that a sentence exceeding two years will be required for the youth, or if it is in the interests of justice for a joint trial. The court would consider factors such as whether joint investigation and cross-examination are essential, whether factual accounts differ, and the fairness of trying a 16-year-old in a Crown Court with adults. If juries are likely to be prejudiced by exposure to adult criminality or if there is risk of injustice to the youth, the court should consider separate trials.

Sentencing powers of the youth court

Key Term: detention and training order (DTO)
A custodial sentence designed for children and young people (aged 12–17) that combines a custodial element with training and rehabilitation, for a fixed period of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, or 24 months.

Key Term: referral order
A community sentence that requires the youth to attend a Youth Offender Panel to address offending and undertake reparative and rehabilitative activities, reflecting the restorative principles of youth justice.

Key Term: youth rehabilitation order (YRO)
A flexible community-based sentence for young offenders, comprising one or more requirements (such as supervision, curfew, activity, treatment), and ranging in duration depending on seriousness and risk.

The youth court is bound by a welfare and rehabilitation focus, as stipulated in both the Sentencing Council’s Definitive Guideline and CYPA 1933 s.44. It also sets the limitations for the court’s custodial powers.

• The maximum custodial sentence is a DTO not exceeding 24 months (12 months for a single offence; 24 months for multiple or consecutive sentences).

• DTOs are subject to strict criteria: they should be imposed only when the offending is “so serious” that neither a community sentence nor a fine alone can be justified.

• For a child aged 12–14, a DTO is only available if the youth is a “persistent offender” (not statutorily defined, but generally a young person with multiple previous findings of guilt or very recent repeat offending).

• Orders above (DTOs, YROs, Referral Orders) are all subject to requirements to address welfare, reintegration, prevention of reoffending, and proportionality to the seriousness of the offence and personal mitigation.

Key Term: voluntary appearance
Attending at court in response to a summons or invitation, rather than being brought remanded in custody or arrest. For youths, a voluntary appearance is often considered therapeutically preferable where appropriate.

Restrictions by age and recidivism

• DTOs cannot be passed on offenders aged 10 or 11. For those 12–14, a DTO may only be imposed if the offender is classed as a persistent offender.
• Children under 15 must not be sentenced to custody unless absolutely necessary, and only after all other avenues have been deemed unsuitable.

Committal to the Crown Court for sentence

If the youth court deals with a grave crime but, only after conviction (or plea) and obtaining further information, concludes its powers are insufficient for an appropriate sentence, the court can commit the youth to the Crown Court for sentencing only. This is possible even if the trial was not held there, as long as the statutory criteria are met.

Worked Example 1.3

A 17-year-old, convicted after a youth court trial of robbery, has an extensive recent history for similar offences and caused significant injury. Sentencing guidelines suggest 24 months may not be adequate.

Answer:
The youth court must determine whether its powers are sufficient. If not, and with a grave crime established and a real prospect that a sentence over two years is merited, the youth must be committed to the Crown Court for sentencing.

Procedure for handling grave crimes

The correct legal and procedural sequence for such cases is:

• Assess the full seriousness of the record, facts, aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and relevant sentencing guidelines.
• Form an evidence-based view as to whether a custodial sentence longer than 24 months is a real prospect.
• If satisfied, send the youth to the Crown Court. If not, retain jurisdiction and proceed within youth sentencing powers.
• If at trial or after plea but before sentence, further facts emerge that exceed youth court sentencing power, the case may be committed up to sentence (not retrial) at the Crown Court.

The youth still has no right to elect for trial at the Crown Court except in the limited set of circumstances provided by statute.

Exam Warning

Always make an explicit, structured assessment of the likelihood of exceeding the youth court's custodial limit before recommending referral, and do not conflate mere seriousness of charge with insufficiency of powers. Distinguish between mandatory referrals and discretionary ones tied to the “real prospect” test.

Sentencing guidelines and youth justice principles

The Sentencing Council’s "Sentencing Children and Young People: Definitive Guideline" governs all youth sentencing. The key themes are:

• The principal aim is to prevent offending and reoffending among children and young people.
• The court must have regard to the welfare and best interests of the child (CYPA 1933 s.44).
• Rehabilitation, reintegration, family involvement, and minimal use of custody are high priorities.
• The youth's age, maturity, motivation, personal circumstances, and potential for positive change are critical.
• Sentences must be proportionate, the least restrictive possible, and tailored individually.

Custody is a last resort and all community-based alternatives should be considered and ruled out before imposing a DTO.

Special regard must be given to vulnerabilities, educational needs, and the effects of peer influence, as well as the potential negative consequences of unnecessary criminalisation.

Compliance with youth sentencing policy—avoiding unnecessary criminalisation

Case law and policy emphasise that, wherever possible, youths should be diverted from the formal criminal system and not stigmatised by disproportionate intervention. Referral Orders, the use of the Youth Offending Team (YOT), and intensive supervision all represent efforts to keep children and young people out of custody whenever safe and appropriate.

Worked Example 1.4

A 13-year-old is convicted of a dwelling burglary. He has previous reprimands for minor offences but no other findings of guilt. The pre-sentence report assesses him as non-persistent and generally compliant.

Answer:
A custodial sentence (DTO) is not available unless the youth is a “persistent offender”. If the court is satisfied that this threshold is not met, the sentencing options are Referral Order or YRO. The court should opt for the least restrictive and most rehabilitative outcome, keeping custody as an absolute last resort.

Procedural and practical safeguards for young defendants

The youth justice system also ensures that, wherever possible, procedural safeguards adjust traditional court processes to suit young people’s needs:

• Non-wigs and non-gown procedures, parents/guardians present, closed court.
• Adapted language, special measures for vulnerable defendants, and dedicated YOT support.
• Protection from media and heightened privacy around the youth's identity.

Summary

Key Point Checklist

This article has covered the following key knowledge points:

• The youth court generally deals with defendants aged 10–17, but homicide, certain firearm offences, and some grave crimes mandate Crown Court involvement.
• Grave crimes are those that, for an adult, are punishable by 14 years’ imprisonment or more. Statutory and guideline-driven exceptions may expand the category.
• The youth court must rigorously apply the "real prospect" test—examining whether a sentence greater than its powers is a real outcome, using the Sentencing Council guidelines—prior to referral for trial or sentence.
• Referrals to the Crown Court must occur if the youth court’s powers are inadequate for the seriousness involved, or where mandatory or discretionary triggers require.
• Sentencing in youth cases must always prioritise rehabilitation and welfare, with custodial and severe measures used only as a last resort.
• For joint cases, the “interests of justice” test guides the court, balancing the youth’s welfare and fairness with procedural necessity if tried with adults.
• Procedural, practical, and welfare-oriented adaptations apply throughout to reflect the unique vulnerabilities, risks, and development needs of young people.

Key Terms and Concepts

• youth court
• age of criminal responsibility
• grave crime
• Crown Court referral
• joint trial
• interests of justice test (youths and adults)
• detention and training order (DTO)
• referral order
• youth rehabilitation order (YRO)
• voluntary appearance
• dangerous offender

Key Term: voluntary appearance
An appearance before the youth court or magisterial court by attendance without being compelled by arrest or remand, commonly following a summons or invitation. This is generally favoured for young defendants where possible, supporting welfare and minimising distress or stigma.

Key Term: dangerous offender
A child or young person found, upon conviction or plea, to pose a significant risk to the public by commission of further specified (usually violent or sexual) offences. The classification engages mandatory Crown Court sentencing, including indeterminate or extended sentences where warranted under the current Sentencing Code.

This comprehensive overview equips you with foundations in legal and procedural aspects of youth court jurisdiction, grave crime handling, Crown Court referral, and the prioritisation of welfare in all youth criminal proceedings under the law of England and Wales.