CHILDREN'S COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA ACT 1988 - SECT 19
CHILDREN'S COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA ACT 1988 - SECT 19
19 . Criminal jurisdiction as regards children
(1) The Court has
exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine a charge of an offence alleged to
have been committed by a child.
(1a) Subsection (1) is
subject to this Part and these enactments —
(a) the
Young Offenders Act 1994 Part 5 Division 2;
(b) the
Sentencing Act 1995 sections 78, 84D, 128 and 132.
(2) Notwithstanding
that a person has attained the age of 18 years, the jurisdiction of the Court
extends, and the provisions of this Act apply, to proceedings in respect of an
offence committed, or allegedly committed, by the person before attaining the
age of 18 years.
(2AA) Despite any
uncertainty as to the age of the person charged at the time the offence is
alleged to have been committed, the Court has jurisdiction for the purposes of
subsection (1) if the charge alleges that the offence was committed by a
person who might have been a child.
(2AB) The Court
retains the jurisdiction referred to in subsection (2AA) despite any evidence
produced in proceedings in respect of the offence that the person had reached
18 years of age at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed.
(2a) In subsection (2)
and (2AB), the reference to proceedings in respect of an offence includes
proceedings relating to an order that the Court made when it dealt with the
offender upon finding the offender guilty of the offence.
(3) In exercising the
jurisdiction conferred by this section, the Court when constituted so as not
to consist of or include a judge is a court of summary jurisdiction, subject
to section 19B(4)(d).
(4) Where it is
provided by any other written law that a person instead of being prosecuted
for a simple offence in a court may elect to suffer a prescribed monetary
penalty in respect of that offence, then, notwithstanding anything in this
Act, a child may so elect.
[(5)-(8) deleted]
(9) Where a child is
before the Supreme Court or the District Court, that court has all the powers
of the Children’s Court of Western Australia in all respects as if the
child had been before that Court.
[Section 19 amended: No. 15 of 1991 s. 10; No. 104
of 1994 s. 224; No. 78 of 1995 s. 12; No. 27 of 2004 s. 14(3); No. 59 of 2004
s. 68 and 73; No. 84 of 2004 s. 80; No. 47 of 2020 s. 7.]