Youth Justice Act 2024
13Review of charge against child who allegedly committed offence at 12 or 13 years of age
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13 Review of charge against child who allegedly committed offence at 12 or 13 years of age
(1) If a summary proceeding is commenced in the Children's Court against a child for the alleged commission of an indictable offence at 12 or 13 years of age, the prosecutor must review the charge against the child in accordance with this section.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a charge for an offence being prosecuted by the DPP.
(3) The prosecutor, having regard to the preliminary brief or the full brief for the charge (as the case requires), must consider whether it appears at the time of the review that there is—
(a) sufficient admissible evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the child knew at the time of the alleged commission of the offence that the child's conduct was seriously wrong having regard to section 11(3); and
(b) sufficient admissible evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt each element of the alleged offence; and
(c) a reasonable prospect of the child being found guilty of the alleged offence.
(4) The prosecutor must complete the review as soon as possible after the date of commencement of the proceeding and, if practicable, not later than 21 working days after that date.
(5) If it appears to the prosecutor at the time of the review that the matters described in subsection (3) are not satisfied, the prosecutor, as soon as possible after the completion of the review, must consider whether it would be appropriate to withdraw the charge against the child for the alleged offence.
(6) To avoid doubt, if a summary proceeding is commenced against a child for the alleged commission of more than one offence, nothing in this section requires the prosecutor to—
(a) review a charge against the child for the alleged commission of an offence at 14 years of age or older; or
(b) consider the withdrawal of a charge against the child for the alleged commission of an offence at 12 or 13 years of age if it appears to the prosecutor that the matters described in subsection (3) are satisfied in respect of the charge.