Youth Court - history of the Youth Court [pdf, 217 KB]
...for control rather than benevolence. There was also strong criticism of the lack of accountability for young offenders. As Robert Ludbrook observed31 Our juvenile justice system prior to the 1989 Act had the effect of cushioning young people from the human, social and economic consequences of their behaviour. By parading young people before a line of public officials – Police, Judges, lawyers, social workers and residential care workers, they were sheltered from the consequences of their mi...