Page 72 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

vi. the requirement to charge a child only in the presence of their solicitor or
legal advisor, as well as a prohibition on the use of requisitions for
children.
vii. no requirement to admit guilt in order to be considered for diversion.
viii. a statutory requirement, with associated funding, for YOTs to provide
informal diversion through individualised interventions and, if completed,
the police take no further action. 206
ix. a mechanism for the police to re-refer to a diversion panel when further
information becomes available.
x. a continuous reassessment of whether diversion is appropriate throughout
the legal process.

3.35 In order for the national framework to be effective, it must be monitored
properly. This means that data gathering on diversion – and all out of court
disposals – must improve. As such, we support the recommendations of the
Justice Select Committee that the MoJ and YJB work together to collect
accurate and consistent data on the impact and effectiveness of out of
court disposals.

3.36 In addition, to strengthen the principle that arrest should be used as a last resort,
restorative justice as an out of court disposal should be considered more often,
especially for BAME children. Used mainly for more minor crimes, this allows
children to avoid criminal prosecution if they apologise and make a form of
reparation. 207 In general, use of this disposal has been declining, with there
being racial disparities as to who receives it. Greater transparency and
monitoring is required to better understand this trend.

3.37 We are satisfied that consistent diversion schemes based on this framework
will mean more BAME children are diverted. In addition, we consider that our
proposed national framework would deliver cost saving in the long term, as the
Justice Committee has also identified. This is because criminal justice
agencies, such as YOTs, would deal with fewer children. In addition, diversion
schemes would lead to reductions in reoffending, which also reduce costs to

206 This is currently available in many areas, in most London YOTs it is called ‘triage’, in other areas it
may be described in different ways such as youth restorative diversion or youth restorative intervention.
207 See, for example, s.73 and s.74 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000

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