Articles
Category: Youth Justice and Juvenile Crime
Queensland bail laws for children
In 2024, Queensland introduced significant changes to its bail laws, aiming to tackle youth crime and enhance community safety. These reforms primarily focus on repeat offenders and represent a more stringent stance on granting bail, especially for young offenders deemed a risk to public safety.
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Significant changes to youth justice laws in Queensland
On 13 December 2024, the Queensland Parliament passed the Making Queensland Safer Act 2024, introducing significant amendments to youth justice laws. These changes mark a major shift in the way the justice system approaches young offenders, with some amendments already in effect and others set to come into force in 2025.
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Common interest privilege in Australia
Common interest privilege (CIP) is an extension of legal professional privilege (LPP) and applies to the sharing of privileged information between parties with a mutual interest in the outcome of litigation or legal matters.
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Understanding criminal responsibility of children in Queensland
In Queensland, the principles governing criminal responsibility for children are carefully structured to address their developmental stages. Under the Criminal Code, the legal system recognises that children are not always capable of understanding the consequences of their actions in the same way adults are.
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Police interviews involving children
When police wish to interview a child in relation to a suspected offence, special rules apply. Parents and those with the care of a child who the police want to question should seek urgent legal advice from the outset, before any interview takes place.
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Sentencing children in Queensland
In Queensland, the criminal justice system treats children differently to adults. The purpose of dealing with children differently is to acknowledge that children have different maturity levels to an adult, and may not have the same life experience, mental capacity and legal understanding to make adult-like decisions.
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Diversionary options for young offenders in Queensland
When it is appropriate to do so, a child who has criminally offended should be diverted away from the criminal justice system, unless the nature of the offence and the child’s criminal history indicate that a proceeding for the offence should be started.
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