Youth Court - history of the Youth Court [pdf, 217 KB]
...punished as adults in adult courts, and age offered no exoneration. The justice system was characterised by the ‘Classical’ approach where crime was seen as a rational act of free-will. Punishment consequently focused on deterrence rather than reform and was applied equally to adults and children. However, in the latter part of the 19th century there was an acknowledgement that children are uniquely vulnerable and a subsequent move towards child-centred, welfare-based treatment.3 The exist...