 Youth courts could be established in Kilmarnock, Paisley and Dundee |
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson has announced plans to increase the number of youth courts in Scotland. The minister confirmed that the specialist courts could be established in Kilmarnock, Paisley and Dundee to help tackle youth offending.
The news follows a "broadly positive" evaluation of two pilot youth courts in Hamilton and Airdrie.
The courts were set up in 2003 and 2004 to offer a fast-track form of justice for young perpetrators and victims.
In the 2003 Scottish Executive Partnership Agreement between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, ministers pledged to roll out youth courts where they were needed, subject to successful evaluation.
A final report detailing the results of the study was published by researchers at the University of Stirling on Friday.
Ms Jamieson said: "Social workers involved in the evaluation reported that most young people given supervisory disposals during the evaluation were responding well and had reduced or even ceased their offending.
"Reconviction rates were lower in Hamilton youth court than in comparable sheriff courts, despite dealing with more heavily convicted young people.
"On the strength of the success of the pilots, I have decided to provide additional resources with a view to extending the benefits of the youth courts more widely.
She said that Kilmarnock, Paisley and Dundee could benefit from having a youth court.
The minister added: "We will now be working with the Sheriff Principal and local agencies to assess the feasibility of establishing youth courts at these locations."
The youth courts pilot was established to deal with alleged offenders aged between 15 and 17 years old appearing summarily before Airdrie and Hamilton Sheriff Courts.
The specialist courts dealt with cases where a young person's background and circumstances suggested that a referral would be appropriate to enhance community safety and reduce the risk of re-offending.
Margaret Mitchell, Conservative justice spokeswoman, said that two-thirds of persistent young offenders are 14 or 15 years old.
"It is this age group which the youth courts should target since early intervention is the key to success," she said.
"The executive likes to think that it talks a good game on crime, but when it comes to practical steps, reality rarely matches rhetoric.
"The youth courts are targeted at the wrong age group, there are far too few police out on the beat in our communities, and our children's panels still cannot order drug testing and treatment orders."
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Initial studies suggest that Kilmarnock, Paisley and Dundee could benefit from having a youth court
