Trends for Children and Youth in the New Zealand Justice System

Transcription

1 March, 2012 Trends for Children and Youth in the New Zealand Justice System Key Points Over the 10 years to 2010, a consistent pattern of decreasing numbers can be seen across the youth justice system. There have been fewer Police apprehensions of children and young people and fewer children and young people charged in the Youth Court. These decreases can be seen across gender, age and ethnic group since Only the most serious youth offending reaches court. The majority (80%) of youth offending is dealt with out of court through alternative action, including warnings, diversionary programmes and Family Group Conferences. The most serious youth offending (which results in the transfer to the District or High Court) has also decreased. The number of children and young people transferred to the District or High Court and convicted fell by over half between 2001 and How the youth justice system works This report presents the numbers of children and young people going through the youth justice process, from apprehension by Police, to hearings in the Youth Court, to responses in the Youth, District or High Court. It covers the ten years from 2001 to In the youth justice system, children are defined as being aged 10 to 13 years, and young people are aged 14 to 16 years. In the Youth Justice system: A young person is apprehended by Police A Family Group Conference may be held Youth may appear in Court Responses to Proved charges will be given. 1

2 1.1 A young person is apprehended by Police The youth justice process begins when Police apprehend a child or young person. An apprehension does not always result in arrest, particularly in the youth justice process where diversionary measures are preferred where possible. Once the Police have apprehended a young person, they may be dealt with in a number of ways: the incident may be taken no further, with the young person receiving a caution or warning the young person may be referred to Police Youth Aid, where formal or informal diversion schemes are put in place, or if the offending is more serious, a charge may be laid against the young person, and the case will usually progress through to the Youth Court. 1.2 A Family Group Conference may be held A Family Group Conference 1 (FGC) is a meeting between everyone involved in the case, including the child or young person, their family and the victim of the crime. It lets everyone involved have a say. Everyone at the meeting discusses what should happen next, and works on a plan for the child or young person to account for the offending and to address the child s or young person s needs that led to the offending. The two most common situations where a FGC will be held are: if a young person has not been arrested, but the Police nevertheless wish to lay charges in court (an intention to charge FGC); and where a young person has been arrested, appears in the Youth Court, and does not deny the charge (a court-ordered FGC). A young person will usually admit to the charge during an FGC. If a young person denies the charge, the judge will schedule a date where the young person can defend the charge against them (a defended hearing). The vast majority of charges in the Youth Court are not denied, and are dealt with through a FGC. All plans agreed at court-ordered FGCs must be approved by the Youth Court. The Youth Court will approve the plan and assist Child, Youth and Family to monitor it. If the young person satisfactorily completes the plan, the Youth Court may grant a section 282 discharge (as if the charge was never laid). In some cases, the FGC process may determine that the offending only warrants a formal Police caution or diversion, without charges being laid in the Youth Court. 1.3 Youth may appear in court If a formal charge is laid by Police, most young offenders will be dealt with in the Youth Court. The Youth Court aims to hold young people accountable for their actions and prevent re-offending. The Youth Court deals with young people aged 14 to 16 years old. Since October 2010, the Youth Court has also been able to hear cases of serious offending by 12 and 13 year olds. To date, the number of 12 and 13 year olds appearing in the Youth Court has been very low. The Youth Court hears all cases to do with young people, except murder and manslaughter 2, non-imprisonable traffic offences, or when a young person chooses to have a jury trial, in which case they are transferred to the District or High Court. 1 Ministry of Justice. Family Group Conference. Retrieved 20 March 2012 from 2

3 Children and young people are usually not convicted of offences in the Youth Court. When a judge decides that the prosecution has shown beyond a reasonable doubt that the young person has committed the offence they were charged with, the outcome is called proved. 1.4 Responses to Proved charges will be given The range of responses available to the Youth Court are different to those available in the District Court. Youth Court responses are referred to as orders. Section 283 of the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (CYPF) Act 1989 lists the orders available to Youth Court Judges, from the least restrictive to the most restrictive: Group 1 responses involve either discharge or admonishment 3 Group 2 responses involve fines or some other form of restitution Group 3 responses require attendance at a rehabilitation, parenting education or mentoring programme Groups 4 to 6 involve various types of supervision, and Group 7 is reserved for convictions that need to progress to the District Court. Group 3 responses were introduced as part of the Children, Young Persons and their Families (Youth Court Jurisdictions and Orders) Amendment Act Given that the data only captures partial results for 2010, data for Group 3 responses have been excluded from this report. 2 It is the District Court or the High Court which deal with youth accused of murder or manslaughter. 3 A formal warning or reprimand given by the Youth Court Judge to a young person who has been proven to have committed, or admitted to committing, an offence. 3

4 Rate of Police apprehensions 2. Patterns of youth apprehensions by Police 2.1 The rate of children and young people apprehended by Police declined over the decade... The number of apprehensions made by Police is one indicator of youth offending. A young person may be apprehended multiple times for different offences, so the number of apprehensions recorded by Police will exceed the actual number of young people apprehended by Police. While the number of apprehensions gives a good indication of activity, the volumes can be driven by changes in the population. For example, if the number of young people in the population grew, the number of offences and apprehensions could be expected to grow. For this reason, in this report we often analyse the data by the rate of offending. The rate shows the frequency of apprehension, with the impact of population changes removed. 4 As shown in Figure 1, the rate of Police apprehensions of children and young people has declined significantly since Over this period, not only has the number of apprehensions fallen, this has occurred when the population of youth has grown. Declines occurred for both children and young people, with the decline happening slightly faster for children. Figure 1: Police apprehension rates (per 10,000) for children and young people by age group, 2001 to Year Children aged 10 to 13 Young people aged 14 to 16 Total apprehension rate 4 Rates are calculated as the number of apprehensions for every 10,000 children and young people in the New Zealand population. 5 Please note that changes shown between 2003 and 2004 may be driven in part by changes in the Police recording systems. 4

5 Number of Police apprehensions 11,125 11,130 11,296 9,742 8,624 7,890 8,079 8,050 8,506 8,083 30,791 32,095 30,500 31,099 30,452 29,758 29,847 29,633 29,026 33, and the number of apprehensions of young people by Police also declined The previous section shows a reduction in the rate of apprehensions; Figure 2 shows that the number of Police apprehensions of young people has decreased as well. In 2010, Police apprehensions reached a low of 37,109, falling from a peak of 45,290 in 2003, a decrease of 22%. Figure 2: Number of Police apprehensions of children and young people, 2001 to ,000 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5, ,916 43,225 45,290 40,242 39,723 38,342 37,837 37,897 38,139 37, Year Children aged 10 to 13 Young people aged 14 to 16 The proportion of the total Police apprehensions that were children and young people has also steadily declined. In 2001, 27% of all Police apprehensions were people aged between 10 and 16. By 2010, this proportion had declined to 20%. 2.3 Most young people apprehended are Male As with adult apprehensions, the vast majority of young people apprehended by Police are male. In 2010, over three-quarters (78%) of all children and young people apprehended by Police were male. The gap between young males and females may be changing slowly. In 2001, females made up 19 percent of apprehensions. By 2010 they made up 22 percent. The increase was largely in females aged 14 to 16. Figure 3 shows that young males had a significantly higher apprehension rate than young females, in both the 10 to 13 and 14 to 16 year age groups. This is also the case for adults, where adult males account for around 80% of Police apprehensions. 5

6 Number of apprehensions Rate of Police apprehensions Figure 3: Police apprehension rates (per 10,000) by gender, 2001 to ,800 1,500 1, Year Males Females Total apprehension rate 2.4 The strongest decline in apprehensions was for Caucasian youth Similar to recent trends for adults, the decline in apprehensions is seen across all the major ethnic groups between 2001 and The decrease was much more marked for children and young people recorded as Caucasian. 6 Apprehensions of Caucasian children and young people peaked in 2003 at 19,288. This fell by 28% to reach 13,934 in The number and rate of apprehensions of Māori young people have remained flat since Apprehensions of Pacific Island young people have also remained flat. Figure 4: Ethnic distribution of children and young people apprehended by Police, 2001 to ,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5, Year Caucasian Māori Pacific Asian Other Unknown 6 Police data does not follow the standard ethnicity classification, so comparisons across ethnic groups and with other statistics should be made with caution. 6

7 2.5 Apprehensions are decreasing across most offence types The bulk of Police apprehensions of young people are for minor offences. Theft has consistently been the most common offence that youth are apprehended for (33% of all apprehensions in 2010). Property damage has consistently been the second largest offence group for children and young people apprehended since Consistent with other results, the decline in apprehensions between 2001 and 2010 was seen across all the major offence types. Although still the most common offence, theft showed the largest numeric decrease in apprehensions, from 14,564 in 2001 to 12,136 in Offences against justice showed the second largest numeric decrease, of 908 apprehensions over the same period. Offences against justice include things like breaching order conditions and resisting a Police officer. A slight increase was seen in the number of apprehensions for acts intended to cause injury over the ten year period, which increased from 3,125 in 2001 to 4,016 in The number of apprehensions for acts intended to cause injury involving females aged 14 to 16 has also increased over the decade. 2.6 The majority of youth offending does not reach court Once the Police apprehend a person, some form of resolution must be found. From 2001 to 2010, the most common resolution was Referral to Police Youth Aid, and Warning (42% and 29% of resolutions in 2010). These results are reflective of the New Zealand youth justice principle that criminal proceedings should not be instituted against a child or youth if there is an alternative way of dealing with the matter. Most child and youth apprehensions are dealt with by warning, caution or Police alternative action 7. Only around 20% of Police apprehensions result in charges being laid in court. The outcomes for the young people who are charged in court are covered in the next section. 7 Child offending and youth justice processes, Ministry of Justice - 7

8 3. Patterns in charges laid against young people and youth appearances in court 3.1 Government priorities for the justice sector include reducing youth crime On 15 March 2012, the Prime Minister announced ten new results-driven focus areas for the public service, including the reduction of youth crime. Over the next three to five years the justice sector will be working together to identify and address the causes of offending by youth. It is expected that as a result the level of youth appearing in court will reduce. 3.2 The number of youth court appearances has declined Since reaching a peak of 18,531 in 2006, the total number of children and young people appearing in court has steadily declined to reach 15,086 (down 19%) in This decline is consistent with the decreasing Police apprehensions of children and young people in recent years. 3.3 A large proportion of charges laid against young people result in a section 282 discharge Only the most serious offending reaches court. The bulk (80%) is dealt with prior to court by Police through the extensive use of alternative action, including warnings and diversionary programmes. In 2010, most charges against children and young people that reached the Youth Court resulted in a section 282 discharge (as if the charge was never laid). In most cases this meant the young person had successfully completed the actions required of them in the plan agreed at their FGC. Expanded reporting: most serious offence versus multiple offence types Child and youth offending statistics are reported in two ways. To produce a count of the actual number of children and young people who appear in the Youth Court, we count only their most serious charge in a calendar year based on the type of offence. Expanding on this measure, we have recently introduced a new calculation based on all the offences that an offender is charged with. This new calculation allows users to see the variety of offences committed, rather than just the most serious, providing valuable extra information for policy and decision makers. Numbers versus rates Child and youth offending statistics are also available in two measures on Statistics New Zealand s Table Builder numbers of charges and rates of offending. The actual number of charges against children and young people shows the volume of work carried out by the court. The rate of charges or rate of children and young people shows the extent of offending by young people compared to their make-up in the New Zealand population. 8

9 Table 1: Numbers of outcomes of charges laid against children and young people in court, 2001 to 2010 Prosecution outcomes Convicted 910 1,273 1, Youth Court Proved (s283) 6,024 5,447 6,787 6,652 6,995 7,585 6,877 6,052 5,254 5,527 Youth Court Discharge (s282) 4,159 4,420 4,680 5,063 4,955 6,075 6,251 6,422 6,140 5,958 Withdrawn or Not Proved 3,279 3,346 3,132 3,475 3,789 4,099 3,866 3,542 3,213 2,993 Other outcome Total 14,800 14,314 15,637 15,937 16,654 18,531 17,770 16,671 15,176 15, There were fewer young people in court The previous section reported the outcome of charges. This section reports on the number of young people who received those charges. The actual number of children and young people in court fluctuated between 2001 and Since reaching a decade high of 4,402 in 2007, the number declined to 3,702 in 2010 the lowest number since This fluctuation is also evident in the rate of young people in court. In 2010, 120 young people per 10,000 population were in court the lowest rate since The proportion of young people discharged rose over the ten years to In 2001, approximately a third of young people were discharged from the Youth Court. By 2010, almost half (47%) were discharged. The rate of young people receiving discharges also increased over the decade from 44 per 10,000 population in 2001, to 57 in Table 2: Number of children and young people facing charges in court, by most serious outcome, 2001 to 2010 Prosecution outcomes Convicted 12, Youth Court Proved (s283) 1,152 1,005 1,149 1,206 1,200 1,281 1,308 1,260 1, Youth Court Discharge (s282) 1,275 1,239 1,458 1,575 1,554 1,884 1,920 1,995 1,884 1,725 Withdrawn or Not Proved Total 3,827 3,570 3,744 3,917 3,925 4,358 4,402 4,355 4,023 3,702 8 Refer to section 7 of this report Interpreting the numbers, for an explanation of each prosecution outcome. 9 Young people convicted of non-imprisonable traffic offences are excluded from this table. 10 Convicted children and young people were sentenced in the District or High Court. 11 Refer to section 7 of this report Interpreting the numbers, for an explanation of each prosecution outcome. 12 Young people convicted of non-imprisonable traffic offences are excluded from this table. 13 Convicted children and young people were sentenced in the District or High Court. 9

10 3.5 Property-related offences make-up a large part of offences Proved Since 2001, theft, unlawful entry/burglary and property damage are the offences that have made up a large number of proved outcomes in the Youth Court. These offences are generally considered amongst the least serious offences. Table 3: Number of children and young people receiving a Youth Court Proved (s283) outcome for each offence they committed, 2001 to Offence Category Acts intended to cause injury Sexual assault and related offences Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons Abduction, harassment and other offences against the person Robbery, extortion and related offences Unlawful entry with intent/break and enter Theft and related offences Fraud, deception and related offences Illicit drug offences Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences Property damage and environmental pollution Public order offences Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations Miscellaneous offences Total number of children and young people 15 2,841 2,490 2,928 3,036 3,120 3,411 3,282 3,090 2,688 2, Some of the children or young people shown here also received a more serious outcome in the year (eg conviction). For this reason, the numbers shown here could differ from the numbers shown in Table Each child or young person is only counted once in the total, but may be counted in multiple offence categories. For this reason the numbers in the columns do not add to the given total. 10

11 3.6 Convictions for very serious offending have more than halved The most serious offending by young people results in conviction and transfer to the District Court or High Court for sentencing. In 2010, 204 children and young people were convicted and sentenced in court. This number has more than halved since 2001, when 449 young people were convicted. 11

12 Percentage 4. Patterns in orders and sentences imposed on young people Children and young people who have had their charge proved or have been convicted in court are given an order (sentence) to complete. This section reports all orders or sentences, regardless of the prosecution outcome for a charge. A child or young person may be given several orders. Only the most serious one imposed for each child or young person is analysed here. 4.1 The majority of young people with a Proved outcome are discharged or admonished Over the past five years, over 60% of all young people charged in the Youth Court each year were discharged or admonished (Figure 5). Young people are increasingly receiving discharges for less serious offending. The vast majority of offences committed by young people coming to the Youth Court (around 80% in 2010) were not serious enough to warrant any type of supervision order. Fines were the second most common type of order imposed on young people (13% in 2010). 16, 17 Figure 5: Distribution of orders imposed on young people, 2006 to % 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Group 1: Discharge, admonish Group 2. Fine, reparation, costs, restitution, forfeiture of property, disqualification from driving Group 4: Supervision, community work Group 5: Supervision with activity Group 6: Supervision with residence Year 16 This chart only shows the five years from 2006 to Data for prior years is less comparable due to a change in the way orders were recorded. 17 Only a very small number of charges heard in the Youth Court were transferred to the District Court for sentencing (Group 7 responses). Those, along with a very small number of education and mentoring programmes (Group 3 responses), are excluded from this chart. 12

13 4.2 The number of young people convicted and sentenced has declined over the decade In 2010, only 204 children and young people were convicted, and then sentenced (less than 6% of all young people appearing in court). These 204 children and young people were responsible for 573 convicted charges. The number of young people convicted has declined dramatically since 2001, when 449 convicted children and young people were responsible for 1,273 charges (2.8 charges per young person). 4.3 Convicted young people most commonly receive a community sentence Young people who get a conviction are sentenced in the District or High Court. In 2010, community detention was the most common sentence imposed on children and young people convicted and sentenced. Community detention requires a young person to comply with electronic curfews. An electronic anklet monitors the young person s compliance with their curfews. Imprisonment and community work were the next most common sentences imposed. Figure 6: Types of sentence imposed on convicted young people, Discharge/ deferment 14% Other 3% Imprisonment 16% Monetary 5% Supervision 4% Home detention, other custodial 11% Community work 14% Intensive supervision 13% Community detention 20% 18 Other sentences include committed to a hospital or facility and to come up for sentencing if called upon. 13

14 5. Interpreting the numbers 5.1 Data sources Data for this analysis was sourced from New Zealand Police, the Ministry of Justice and Statistics New Zealand. Please see each source s individual technical notes for further information. Numbers in this report are rounded to the nearest multiple of three, with the exception of zeroes, which remain as zeroes. As a result of rounding, figures in Tables 4 and 5 may not add to the given totals. The Youth Court is closed to the public, so any details that may identify an individual young person cannot be reported. The New Zealand Police replaced their crime recording IT system in 2005, making it easier for staff to record the resolutions of youth apprehensions. As a result there is a noticeable change in the various proportions of resolutions. 5.2 Timing Data covers full calendar years from 1 January to 31 December inclusive. National population estimates are as at 31 December. Māori population estimates are as at 30 June (as this was the latest information available at the time of publication). 5.3 Classifications Ethnicity is usually identified by the police at the stage of the young person s apprehension. Indian has been included within the Asian category in this report, but is counted separately in Police apprehension statistics. Prosecution outcomes describe the outcome of a charge laid against a young person. The prosecution outcomes are: 1. Convicted a young person found guilty of an offence heard in the District or High Court, or heard in the Youth Court and then transferred to the District Court for an adult sentence. 2. Youth Court Proved (s283) where the charges are admitted by the defendant, or the judge determines that the charges are proven an order under section 283 of the Children, Young Person and their Families Act 1989 follows. 3. Youth Court Discharge (s282) Under section 282 of the Children, Young Person and their Families Act. 4. Withdrawn or not proved where the charges are withdrawn; dismissed; not proceeded with; pardoned; or struck out. Note that there is no acquittal in the Youth Court. 5. Other outcome Other outcomes include unfit to stand trial, committed to hospital or secure facility, and discharged without conviction in the adult court. 14

15 Group Offence groups are based on the Division level of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC). The 16 Divisions are: 1. Homicide and related offences 2. Acts intended to cause injury 3. Sexual assault and related offences 4. Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons 5. Abduction, harassment and other offences against the person 6. Robbery, extortion and related offences 7. Unlawful entry with intent/burglary, break and enter 8. Theft and related offences 9. Fraud, deception and related offences 10. Illicit drug offences 11. Prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences 12. Property damage and environmental pollution 13. Public order offences 14. Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences 15. Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations 16. Miscellaneous offences Police apprehension numbers and rates exclude all traffic offences. Sentence groupings used in Section 4 are based on section 283 of the Children, Young Person and Their Families Act 1989: Example sentence 1 Charge is discharged or the young person is admonished. 2 Order(s) could include a fine; order to make restitution; disqualification from driving; confiscation of car; or forfeiture of other property. 3 Order(s) to attend a: parenting education, mentoring or drug or alcohol rehabilitation programme. 4 Ordered to do community work; be placed under supervision of CYPFs. 5 Supervision with activity. 6 Supervision with residence. 7 Convicted young person is ordered appropriate sentence (under Sentencing Act 2002) in the District Court. To access the detailed data see the Table Builder tool on Statistics New Zealand s website: 15

16 6. Further information is available This report refers to data that is available on the Table Builder tool on Statistics New Zealand s website. Three sources of data about children and young people in the criminal justice system are available: Police Apprehensions numbers of young people who are dealt with by the police. Youth Court Statistics numbers of charges laid against young people in the Youth Court, and the outcomes and punishments resulting from these charges. Conviction and Sentencing Statistics which provide information on young people who are transferred to the adult courts. The convicted offenders table provides a breakdown by age group, so information on the 10 to 16 year old age group may be analysed. Next release: Child and Youth trends in the New Zealand Justice system will be released on 26 June 2012 For other information, please contact us at justiceinfo@justice.govt.nz 16