Childrens Court of Queensland Fourth Annual Report 1996-1997 CHILDRENS COURT OF QUEENSLAND Chambers of the President November 1997 The Honourable Denver Beanland MLA Attorney- General and Minister for Justice Sir, In accordance with the requirements of s. 22 of the Childrens CourtAct 1992, I have the honour to submit to you for presentation in Parliament the Fourth Annual Report of the Childrens Court of Queensland for 1996-97. Judge McGuire President of the Childrens Court of Queensland Childrens Court, 30-40 Quay Street, Brisbane, Q, 4000. Telephone: (07) 3365 9841 Facsimile: (07) 3365 9890 Childrens Court of Queensland Annual Report 1996-97 T"We of contents I. JUVENILE CRIME : TRENDS IN 1996.97 ............. ............................... 5 2. AN OPTIONAL COURT ............................................................ ........ 6 Inaugural address ........................................................................................................ 6 Second report ............................................................................................................. 6 Third report ................................................................................................................ 8 Legal Aid Office ........................................................................................................... 9 Attributes of a Childrens Court Judge .................................................................. 9 Trial by jury preserved ............................................................................................ I 0 Process irreversible .................................................................................................. I I A vain search ............................................................................................................ I I A return to reality .................................................................................................... 12 3. A COORDINATED EFFORT ............................................. .................. 13 4. A HARD LOOK AT CAUTIONS .......................................................... 16 5. CHERBOURG ................................................................................23 Opening remarks ........................................................................................... 24 Procedure adopted ........................................................................................ 25 III-informed criticism ...................................................................................... 25 Mr Bonner speaks .......................................................................................... 26 A new model ................................................................................................... 27 6. SENTENCING :THE FORCE OF PUBLIC OPINION .................................. 29 Introduction .................................................................................................... 29 Reaction to the decision ............................................................................... 30 Mandatory minimum sentences .................................................................. 31 Two Australian States follow suit ................................................................ 33 Two points of view ......................................................................................... 36 My own position ............................................................................................. 36 Sentencing juvenile offencers ...................................................................... 36 The juvenile justice Act: Sentencing principles ....................................... 37 The force of popular sentiment .................................................................. 38 A recent example ........................................................................................... 39 'We are not free to ignore public opinion' ............................................. 39 7. THE MORAL DIMENSION 1V:A NATIONAL CONVERSATION ..................41 Introduction ....................................................................................................41 The moral condition of society ..................................................................41 The story of Elijah .........................................................................................42 The language of morality ..............................................................................44 Manifesto the nation ......................................................................................44 The Times editorial ......................................................................................... 45 A unifying philosophy ...................................................................................46 The Times reflects the mood ........................................................................47 Childrens Court of Queensland Annual Report 1996-97 A morals debate .............................................................................................47 A loss of civility ..............................................................................................48 The House of Lords debate .........................................................................49 Professor Dynan speaks out ....................................................................... 50 A rallying call .................................................................................................. 5 I 8. STATISTICAL TABLES ......................................................................53 9. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................. 1 09 Childrens Court of Queensland Annual Report 1996-97 one Juvenile crime: rends in 1996-97 • 6,513 juveniles had their cases disposed of in all Queensland courts in 1996-97, an increase of 360 (5.9%) over last year. • 20,114 charges against juveniles were disposed of in all Queensland courts in 1996-97, an increase of 1,048 (5.5%) over last year. • 15,103 police cautions were administered to juveniles for offences committed by them in 1996-97, an increase of 521 (3.6%) over last year. • In 1996-97 the Magistrates Court disposed of 83.8% of juvenile defendants, the District Court 13.0%, the Childrens Court of Queensland (presided over by a Childrens Court judge) 3.1% and the Supreme Court 0.2%. • There was a 13% reduction over last year in the number of defendants before the Childrens Court of Queensland (from 231 to 201). • The proportion of boys to girls before the courts in 1996-97 was 84% boys to 16% girls. • The worst offending age group was 15-year-olds (1,604) and 16 year- olds (2,415). Together they constituted over 60% of defendants. • Twelve 10-year-olds appeared before the courts in 1996-97. • Penalties imposed: 5% received a detention order; 3.0% received a suspended detention order (referred to as an immediate release order); and 40% received community-based orders (probation or community service); no penalty or a reprimand was the outcome for over 20%. • The most common offence types in 1996-97 were breaking and entering, and stealing (including car theft): 11,245 compared with 10,705 last year-an increase of 5%. • In 1996-97, 934 drug charges against juveniles were disposed of in all courts-an increase of 143 (18%) over last year, and 2,533 cautions were administered by police for drug offences-an increase of 383 (18%) over last year. • 248 robbery charges were disposed of in 1996-97 compared with 295 in 1995-96-a decrease of 16%. • 9 homicide charges against juveniles (attempted murder 5, manslaughter 2, dangerous driving causing death 2) were disposed of in 1996-97 compared with 13 in 1995-96-a decrease of 31%. • 3 murder charges against juveniles were disposed of in July-September 1997. [For full details refer to Statistical tables pp. 53-108]. Childrens Court of Queensland Annual Report 1996-97 two 11 optional court (the right of election revisited for the fourth time) In the three previous Annual Reports I severely criticised the right of election concept which permeates the juvenile justice Act (see First Annual Report 1993-1994, pp. 45-70; Second Annual Report 1994-1995, pp. 10-21; Third Annual Report 1995-96, pp. 9-19). What follows will be unintelligible to the uninformed reader. For the benefit of the informed reader I recapitulate the salient points I made in the earlier reports. Inaugural address In my inaugural address to launch the new JuvenileJusticeAct 1992 and the Childrens Court Act 1992 I drew attention to problems associated with the right of election. I said (in July 1993): `There is, however, a severely limiting feature to the exercise of the jurisdiction: the child must be legally represented and consent to conferring the jurisdiction on a Childrens Court Judge.' In each of the three previous reports I recommended the abolition of the right of election. All serious offences (whether committed for sentence or for trial, with or without a jury) should be tried by a Childrens Court Judge. The recommendation has not so far been adopted. Second report In the Second Annual Report 1994-95 (at pp. 15-16) I quoted a letter to the then Director-General of Family Services which reads as follows: 28 March 1994 The Director-General Department of Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs GPO Box 806 BRISBANE Q 4001 Dear Director-General, In our recent discussion you will recall that I raised the problem associated with a child's right under the juvenile