The strengths and weaknesses of the youth justice system Essay

In this essay I will seek to describe the strengths and weaknesses of the youth justice system as well as include other youth justice systems from additional countries. The youth justice system in the UK consists of structures and procedures that have been integrated in order to discipline, prosecute and convict individuals under the age of 18 who carry out criminal activities. The main principal of the youth justice system is to put a stop to offending by young individuals and children. A child that is below the age of 10 is indisputably assumed incapable of committing a crime. "It shall be conclusively presumed that no child under the age of ten years can be guilty of any offence" Section 50 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993. Up until 1998, a child between the ages of 10 and 13 was believed under doli incapax, to be incompetent of committing an illegal act, unless prosecutors were able to verify that the child was aware of the dissimilarity between right and wrong, even though a variety of mitigating factors particular to their upbringing are generally taken into consideration in England and Wales. Nowadays, children between the ages of 10 and 17 are competent of committing a crime and it is not probable for a child to escape responsibility for their actions by showing that they did not recognize the difference between right and wrong. Nonetheless, a young person should not be found guilty provided that they are unfit to plead. In rare incidents, most particularly the murder case of James Bulger which took place in 1993 in Liverpool, children can be formally judged as an adult in an adult court of law. From the age of 18 and beyond, in the eyes of the law individuals are then treated as adults. For that reason, any sentence that is given by law enforcement organizations or the court of law, the individual has only itself to blame. In the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, section 37 states that the principle aim of the youth justice system is to "prevent offending by young persons and children". In England and Wales, government policy has openly sought to encourage work to put a stop to offending by young individuals via the work of Youth Offending Teams, an extensive variety of prevention work targeted at youth offenders as well as those who are considered at being most exposed to offending has been refined. A particular method which is both a great and cost effective way to decrease crime is to put a stop to young individuals from getting involved in chaos in the beginning, by handling the problems which make it extra likely that these individuals will engage in anti-social behaviour or criminal activities. According to the Audit Commission's report Youth Justice 2004 a Review of the Reformed Youth Justice System, early intervention helps to prevent young individuals from being involved in trouble, may possibly save public facilities well over £80 million each year.