168Children's Court to be constituted by the same judicial officer

168 Children's Court to be constituted by the same judicial officer

(1) Subject to subsection (2), if a child appears before the Children's Court in a criminal proceeding and that child has previously appeared before the Court in an earlier criminal proceeding, the Court is to be constituted in the proceeding by the same judicial officer who constituted the Court in the earlier proceeding.

(2) The Children's Court may be constituted by any other judicial officer if—

(a) the judicial officer who constituted the Court in the earlier proceeding no longer holds the office of judicial officer; or

(b) it is otherwise impracticable for the judicial officer who constituted the Court in the earlier proceeding to constitute the Court; or

(c) the child before the Court consents to another judicial officer constituting the Court.

(3) If a child is before the Children's Court in relation to more than one criminal proceeding, the Court, as far as practicable, must ensure that the Court is constituted by the same judicial officer for all the proceedings.

(4) This section does not apply to the following—

(a) an application for bail;

(b) a contested proceeding.