Guidance on Imposing and Lifting Reporting Restrictions in cases involving Youths who are convicted
Introduction
1. The public administration of justice is a hallowed principle of the criminal justice system and there is a clear public interest in the full reporting of criminal proceedings.
2. Parliament has long acknowledged the special position of young people accused of crime and has imposed duties to ensure their privacy and welfare are taken into consideration when they appear before a court. Parliament has made specific provisions in respect of reporting restrictions.
3. The statutory framework regulating reporting restrictions is set out in the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. The Act draws a clear distinction between proceedings in the Youth Court (section 49) and proceedings in the magistrates' court and Crown Court (section 39).
Proceedings in the Youth Court
4. Section 49 automatically imposes extensive reporting restrictions in the Youth Court. Publication in contravention of these restrictions is an offence.
5. Section 49 does however allow the court to dispense with any of the reporting restrictions following conviction if it is "in the public interest so to do" (section 49(4A)).
6. The court shall not exercise its discretion to lift the restrictions without affording the parties an opportunity to make representations and taking those representations into account. It is entirely appropriate for the court to ask any reporter in court if they wish to say anything about the matter.
7. The power to dispense with anonymity must be exercised with great care, caution and circumspection. The public interest criterion will rarely be satisfied and it is wholly wrong to exercise the power as an additional punishment or for "naming and shaming" McKerry v Teesdale and Wear Valley Justice (2000) Crim LR 594 DC.
8. Any decision to lift restrictions should be necessary, proportionate and there must be a pressing social need for it (Article 10 ECHR).
9. In appropriate circumstances, as set out below, the prosecutor should remind the court of its power to lift reporting restrictions and make representations to the court on how it should exercise that power.
10. In all cases the prosecutor must carefully consider the welfare of the convicted offender before making such an intervention. Particular care should be taken with children who are especially young.
11. The following cases are examples of circumstances where it will be appropriate for the prosecutor to make representations that there is a strong public interest in favour of lifting restrictions:
- significant public disorder where the public will rightly need to be satisfied that offenders have been brought to justice and there is a need to deter others;
- serious offences which have undermined the public's confidence in the safety of their communities;
- hate crimes which can have a corrosive impact on the confidence of communities.
Proceedings in the magistrates' court and Crown Court
12. Children and young persons may appear in the magistrates' or Crown Court where they are jointly charged with an adult or appear on their own because they are charged with a "grave" crime.
13. There is a clear difference between the automatic ban on identification of children and young people in Youth Court proceedings and the discretion to impose an order preventing reporting when children and young people appear in the adult courts.
14. Section 39 allows the court to impose similar reporting restrictions to section 49. It is an offence to publish any material in contravention of such an order.
15. In deciding to make an order under section 39, the judge must balance the interests of the public in the full reporting of criminal proceedings with the welfare of the child or young person. The courts have recognised that the weight to be given to the welfare of the child or young person changes where there has been a conviction. Following conviction, particularly in a serious case, there is a legitimate public interest in the public knowing the outcome of proceedings in court and the deterrent effect this will have on others.
16. The prosecutor must always be in a position to respond to any application for reporting restrictions under section 39 and it will never be appropriate to adopt a neutral stance.
17. In appropriate circumstances, as set out below, following conviction, the prosecutor should ask the court to review any reporting order that has been made and make representations as to how the court should exercise its discretion.
18. In all cases the prosecutor must carefully consider the welfare of the child or young person before making any representations. Particular care should be taken with children who are especially young.
19. As with orders under section 49, prosecutors should make representations that there are strong public interest grounds in lifting reporting restrictions in respect of:
- significant public disorder;
- serious offences which undermine the public's confidence in the safety of their communities; and
- hate crimes.
