Children as young as 14 could be jailed for life for violent crimes under justice reforms set to be introduced by the Victorian Government in response to rising crime rates. Source: The Age.
The state Government has adopted a Queensland-flavoured “adult time for violent crime” slogan to sell a tougher juvenile justice regime for serious young offenders, with the proposed changes approved by cabinet yesterday.
“We want the courts to treat these violent children like adults, so jail is more likely and sentences are longer,” Premier Jacinta Allan said after a lengthy cabinet meeting, which also endorsed new protest laws.
“Adult time for violent crime will mean more violent youth offenders going to jail, facing serious consequences.”
The new regime will see children charged with aggravated home invasion intentionally or recklessly causing injury in circumstances of gross violence, carjacking and serious and repeat aggravated burglary and armed robbery tried and sentenced by adult courts.
Currently, the maximum jail sentence that can be imposed in the Children’s Court is three years for any single offence, while adult courts can impose sentences of up to 20 years for intentionally causing serious injury through gross violence and up to 25 years for aggravated home invasion.
Under the proposed changes, the penalty for aggravated home invasions and carjackings will increase from 25 years to life imprisonment.
The proposed legislation will also compel the Children’s Court to take into greater consideration the impact of youth crime on its victims, and remove the stipulation that jail should be a last resort for children convicted of serious crimes.
Under existing laws, one third of teenagers convicted in the Children’s Court for carjacking and aggravated home invasion are given custodial sentences. People sentenced for the same crimes by adult courts are jailed in nearly all instances.
Adult courts place greater emphasis on community safety and impact on victims, whereas rehabilitation is the primary objective of the Children’s Court.
The proposed changes, which will be introduced to Parliament this week with a view to push them through before the end of the year, are likely to dismay youth-justice advocates who argue that tougher sentencing, rather than addressing the causes of youth crime, will turn children into career criminals.
FULL STORY
Children to be tried as adults in youth justice overhaul (By Kieran Rooney, Rachel Eddie and Chip Le Grand, The Age)
