Youth Justice Act 2024

An application in respect of an order contravention proceeding must be made in the Children's Court—

whether the sentence to which the proceeding relates was imposed by the Children's Court, the County Court or the Supreme Court, on appeal or otherwise; and

whether the child in respect of whom the application is made is 19 years of age or over.

If the order contravention proceeding is in respect of a child who is under 19 years of age when the proceeding commences, the Children's Court must hear and determine the proceeding unless—

the sentence was imposed by the Supreme Court or the County Court and the child does not consent to the Children's Court hearing the proceeding; or

the Children's Court considers that in all the circumstances of the case it is appropriate to transfer the proceeding to the court that imposed the sentence.

If the order contravention proceeding is in respect of a child who is 19 years of age or over when the proceeding commences, the Children's Court must transfer the proceeding to the Magistrates' Court or to the court that imposed the sentence unless the Children's Court considers that in all the circumstances of the case it is appropriate for the Children's Court to hear and determine the proceeding, having regard to the matters referred to in subsection (4).

The Children's Court must have regard to the following matters for the purposes of subsection (3)—

the age, maturity and stage of development of the child;

the nature and circumstances of the alleged contravention;

the stage of the proceeding;

whether the child is the subject of another proceeding in any other court;

the availability of appropriate sentences in the other court if the contravention were proved;

whether the child prefers to be dealt with in the Children's Court or any other court;

any other matter that the Children's Court considers relevant.

An order contravention proceeding must not be transferred on the sole ground that the sentence was imposed by another court.

For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), an order contravention proceeding is taken to commence on the day on which—

an application is made under section 307; or

a direction is given under section 308(1).

If the child does not consent to the Children's Court hearing and determining an order contravention proceeding or the Children's Court considers that an order contravention proceeding should be transferred, the Children's Court must discontinue the proceeding and order that it be transferred to the Magistrates' Court or to the court that imposed the sentence, as the case may be, and in the meantime may—

permit the child to go at large; or

grant the child bail on the condition that the child appear before the Supreme Court, the County Court or the Magistrates' Court, as the case requires, at the time and place at which the order contravention proceeding is to be heard; or

remand the child in custody or deal with the child in accordance with section 333 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 until the order contravention proceeding is heard by the Supreme Court, the County Court or the Magistrates' Court, as the case may be.

If an order contravention proceeding is transferred to the Magistrates' Court under this section—

the Magistrates' Court may sentence the child as if the Magistrates' Court had been satisfied of the child's guilt of the offence for which the sentence was imposed; and

for the purpose of paragraph (a), the Magistrates' Court has jurisdiction, whether or not the Magistrates' Court would otherwise have had jurisdiction to deal with the offence.

This section applies despite section 333.

In this section—