Curfew powers planned in new juvenile crime Bill

FOR almost 20 years, various attempts have been made to introduce new legislation on juvenile crime to replace the 1908 Children…

FOR almost 20 years, various attempts have been made to introduce new legislation on juvenile crime to replace the 1908 Children's Act.

The main difficulties in reaching agreement on its contents over this time centred on differences of opinion among the three Government departments responsible for juvenile offenders (Justice, Health and Education), principally on measures for dealing with "out of control" children, changes to the age of criminal responsibility and which Department would be responsible for young offenders' centres.

With the imminent publication of the Children Bill, 1996, supported by the 1991 Child Care Act and the imminent School Attendance Bill, agreement has now been reached on these issues, representing a considerable achievement for Mr Austin Currie, Minister of State in the three departments with specific responsibility for the Bill.

Under the Bill, special children's courts will deal with all cases involving those under 18. Perhaps most contentiously, these courts will have the power to restrict a child offender to his or her house during any period from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., or impose restrictions on frequenting a particular locality during the same hours.

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The response to the curfew proposal has been mixed. "We see a curfew as addressing symptoms, not causes, and as a dangerous knee jerk and quite constraining of young people's rights," said Mr Cian O Tighearnaigh, chief executive of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Mr O Tighearnaigh pointed out that there must be a parent child relationship remaining in the home and that the home situation must be suitable for a curfew. "If a child is out of the home and reenacting behaviour seen in it, a curfew may exacerbate the problem," he said.

Local community groups have fewer reservations. "It's very, very welcome," said Ms Yvonne Curtin of the South Inner City Community Development Group. She believes it will reduce petty crime in the area and, combined with the proposal that parents should pay compensation for damage caused by their children, will encourage parents to exercise greater control over them. Among poorer parents, she adds, compensation payments will only be practical for minor damage.

Parents' representatives have reacted more cautiously. "If you're penalising parents who are struggling with family and socioeconomic pressures, you're not doing anything for children," said Ms Fionnuala Kilfeather, national co ordinator of the National Parents' Council (Primary).

Much of the focus of the Bill is aimed at supporting and encouraging families dealing with young people in conflict with the law, with detention to be used as a last resort.

The curfews are one of a number of "community sanctions" contained in the Bill, including variations on probation orders which would allow the court to place child offenders under close supervision or compel them to attend day care schools for up to 90 days of education and training.

Child offenders may also be sent to live with a suitable adult, with the consent of their parents, or that adult may be assigned to provide advice and support in the family home. Parents can be ordered to enter into a recognisance of up to £250 for a maximum of three years in order to ensure that they exercise proper control over their child.

Where detention is necessary unmanageable children will be kept in special care units, run by the Department of Health, while young offenders under 16 will be kept in children detention schools operated by the Department of Education.

The Bill also places the Garda Juvenile Liaison Officer Scheme on a statutory basis and expands it to provide for family conferences attended by the child, the parents, the juvenile liaison officer and, in some cases, the victim, as well as other interested parties. Both parents will also be obliged to attend all court proceedings involving their child, except where one parent has custody. In the past, it has traditionally been the mother who attended court proceedings but the Bill emphasises the responsibility of both parents throughout.

The age of criminal responsibility is to be increased from seven years to 10 years initially and then progressively to 12 years over two stages. The thinking behind this is that child offenders aged seven to nine will be catered for under the 1991 Child Care Act, with responsibility for them lying with the Departments of Health and Education.

While all three Departments have recognised the significant additional expenditure the new legislation will require if it is to be effective, there is no indication yet as to the costs or the time scale involved. Four years after its introduction only 17 of the 79 provisions contained in the 1991 Child Care Act had been introduced and its provisions have still not been fully implemented.