NCJ Number
154179
Date Published
1995
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The British Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 received Royal Assent on November 3, 1994. This paper summarizes the act's principal provisions in relation to young offenders, bail, and sentencing.
Abstract
Sections 1 to 15 of the act provide for the introduction of a new "secure training order" for 12- to 14-year-old offenders. Juveniles sentenced to a secure training order will be detained in a new system of secure training centers. Section 16 extends the powers of courts to order juveniles aged 10-13 to be detained for long periods; section 17 increases the maximum length of detention in a young offender institution for 15- to 17-year-olds from 12 months to 2 years. Provisions also enable local authorities to make arrangements for secure accommodation to be provided and managed by voluntary organization or the private sector. Section 20 extends the age range of juveniles for whom courts are empowered to impose a "security requirement" when remanding them to local authority accommodation, and section 23 gives the police the power to arrest a juvenile who has breached a condition of remand to local authority accommodation. Other sections pertain to police detention of juveniles, automatic refusal of bail in serious cases, the removal of presumption of bail in certain cases, conditional police bail, criteria for refusing police bail, and the power of arrest for failure to answer police bail. Other provisions address sentences following guilty pleas, appeals against lenient sentences, presentence reports, curfew orders and electronic monitoring, and binding over parents.