Children's Court of Queensland
The Children's Court of Queensland is a specialized court in Queensland, a state of Australia which deals with serious crimes committed by children under the age of seventeen years in the state.[1] The court should not be confused with the Children's Court which is a magistrates court in the state.
Contents
Establishment
The court is established under the Children's Court Act 1992 (Qld).[2] The court is a court of record[2] and is an inferior court. The court came into existence in 1992.
President
The Governor of Queensland may appoint a president of the court. The president must be a children's court judge.[3] The major functions of the president are to oversee the court and ensure that its work is carried out quickly and effectively.
There is no deputy president of the court. However, the governor may appoint an acting president to act in the president's absence.
The current president is Judge Michael Shanahan who was appointed in 2011.[4]
Former Presidents have been:
- The late Judge Fred McGuire AO (President 1992-1998) [5]
- Judge John Mervyn Robertson (President 1999-2002) [6]
- Judge Kerry John O'Brien (President 2002–2006) [7]
- Judge Julie Maree Dick SC (President 2007-2010) [8]
Other members of the Court
The governor may appoint a judge of the District Court of Queensland as a children's court judge. Judges are appointed based on their experience and interest in dealing with the children's court jurisdiction.[9]
The governor may also appoint other district court judges to act as children's court judges.[10]
The governor may appoint a magistrate as a Children's Court magistrate.[11] The governor may also appoint other stipendiary magistrates as acting children's court magistrates.[12]
The following are appointed as Children's Court judges as at April 2015:[13]
- His Honour Judge John Robertson
- His Honour Judge Clive Wall RFD QC
- His Honour Judge Nicholas Samios
- Her Honour Judge Deborah Richards
- Her Honour Judge Sarah Bradley
- His Honour Judge Michael John Shanahan
- Her Honour Judge Julie Dick SC
- His Honour Judge Paul Smith
- Her Honour Judge Fleur Kingham
- His Honour Judge William Everson
- His Honour Judge Brian Devereaux SC
- His Honour Judge Brad Farr SC
- His Honour Judge Stuart Durward SC
- His Honour Judge John Baluch SC
Constitution of the court
The court is constituted by either a single judge or a single magistrate depending on the nature of the crime allegedly committed. In most cases, the matters will be dealt with by either a children's court judge or children's court magistrate. However, if one is not available, then a district court judge or a magistrate may deal with the case even though they have not been appointed by the governor.
Jurisdiction of Magistrates
A Children's Court magistrate has jurisdiction:
- to hear and determine all simple offences;
- to hear and determine most indictable offences if the child consents to it; and
- to conduct committal proceedings in relation to indictable offences.
A Children's Court magistrate also has powers to hear Child Protection matters pursuant to the Child Protection Act 1999.
Who may attend
Generally children's court cases are held in a closed court, although criminal offences dealt with by indictment are held in open court. This is against the usual principle that all common law courts are open to public, and reflects that children are being dealt with inside the court. Cases are held at different times to any other case being heard by the court on the day.
At a hearing, the following people may attend
- the child;
- their parent or other adult member of the child's family;
- a witness giving evidence;
- a person whose presence will provide emotional support to a witness;
- certain welfare services; and
- any other person who the court believes should be present.
Caseload
The Children's Court of Queensland as a whole (including Judges and Magistrates) dealt with 5,431 juveniles in 2005–06 compared with 6,996 in 2004-2005. This represents a 22.4% decrease in the number of defendants.
There was a 9.8% decrease in the number of juveniles appearing before a Children's Court Judge. Furthermore, there was an overall decrease of 29.3% in the number of charges brought against juveniles in Queensland in 2005-2006, at 1,771, down from 16,656 in the previous year.
According to its Annual Review, unlawful entry with intent and theft (and related offences) accounted for 44.1% of all charges.
Children's Court Magistrates disposed of 93% of juvenile cases in 2005-2006.
References
- ↑ YOUTH JUSTICE ACT 1992 - SECT 6 4 Child's Age Regulation
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 CHILDRENS [sic] COURT ACT 1992 - SECT 4 4 Childrens [sic] Court established etc
- ↑ CHILDRENS [sic] COURT ACT 1992 - SECT 9 9 Childrens [sic] Court president
- ↑ Judicial Profile - Judge Michael Shanahan
- ↑ Judicial Profile - Judge Frederick McGuire AO
- ↑ Judicial Profile - Judge John Robertson
- ↑ Judicial Profile - Chief Judge Kerry O'Brien
- ↑ Judicial Profile - Judge Julie Dick SC
- ↑ CHILDRENS [sic] COURT ACT 1992 - SECT 11 11 Childrens [sic] Court judge
- ↑ CHILDRENS [sic] COURT ACT 1992 - SECT 12 12 Acting judge
- ↑ CHILDRENS [sic] COURT ACT 1992 - SECT 14 14 Childrens [sic] Court magistrates
- ↑ CHILDRENS [sic] COURT ACT 1992 - SECT 15 15 Termination of office
- ↑ Judicial Profiles - Queensland Supreme Court Library
Sources
- Children's Court Act 1992 (Qld)
- Annual Report - http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/publications/annual/2005-2006%20Childrens%20Court%20annual%20report.pdf
