Changes to Youth Justice

This article is concerned with the Children, Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Court Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Act 2010. The author asserts that the amending Act represents a significant shift in the underlying theoretical principles of the youth justice system by introducing new powers and orders. This includes allowing 12 and 13 year old children to be persecuted for certain serious or persistent offending. The author observes this shift through comparison to the previous basis for the treatment of child offenders, specifically that offending stems from difficulties in the home life of the child, and thus should be resolved through alternative action. This article concludes that while New Zealand has been a world leader in youth justice policy since the inception of the innovative 1989 Act, the “contra-flow” of youth justice policy is now evident, with the locus of power gravitating back towards the state.