New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CHILDREN (CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS) ACT 1987 - SECT 48G

48G Children’s Court may make suitability assessment orders

(1) The Children’s Court may, of its own motion or on the application of an authorised applicant, make an order (a "suitability assessment order") adjourning criminal proceedings against a child for a relevant offence for the purpose of enabling a suitability assessment to be carried out in relation to the child if:

(a) the child has:

(i) pleaded guilty to, or been found guilty of, the relevant offence, or

(ii) in any other case-consented to the making of the order in circumstances where the child is capable in law of giving such consent, and

(b) the Court is satisfied that the child has been afforded an opportunity to seek advice on the proposed order from an Australian legal practitioner, and

(c) in the case where the child has not pleaded guilty to, or has not yet been found guilty of, the relevant offence-the Court is satisfied that the child had sufficient information by the time of the hearing to enable the child to make an informed choice about whether to consent to the making of the order, and

(d) the child has been granted a scheme participation approval unless the Court is satisfied that it was not possible in the circumstances for the approval to be granted in time for the hearing.

(2) In determining whether a child has sufficient information to make an informed choice for the purposes of subsection (1) (c), the Children’s Court is to have regard to the following:

(a) if a brief of evidence relating to the relevant offence was required to be served on the child-whether a brief was served within a reasonable time before the hearing of the application and contained sufficient information to enable the child to make an informed choice,

(b) if a brief of evidence was not served because it was not required-whether the child was nonetheless provided with sufficient information within a reasonable time before the hearing of the application to enable the child to make an informed choice.

Note: Section 183 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 makes provision for the service of briefs of evidence for offences. A brief of evidence must contain certain documents, subject to the regulations, regarding the evidence. Also, section 187 (5) of that Act provides that a prosecutor is not required to serve a brief of evidence in proceedings for an offence of a kind, or proceedings of a kind, prescribed by the regulations under that Act.

(3) Each of the following persons is an "authorised applicant" for the purposes of the making of an application under subsection (1):

(a) the child against whom the criminal proceedings have been brought,

(b) any person making the application on behalf of the child,

(c) any other person who is authorised to make such an application by the regulations.

(4) The Children’s Court is not to make a suitability assessment order unless it is satisfied that it would not be appropriate for the child to be dealt with instead under the Young Offenders Act 1997 .

(5) The Children’s Court is not required to be satisfied that a child meets the prescribed eligibility criteria before it makes a suitability assessment order.

(6) This section does not limit any power that the Children’s Court has, apart from this section, to adjourn proceedings.