2016-05-04
The Greens stand by our support for the changes to bail laws for minors to address serious concerns at the high number of children and teenagers languishing on remand before they are found guilty of an offence.
“The Victorian Commissioner for Children, legal experts and youth advocates highlighted the need to change these laws to address the fact that children are particularly vulnerable in their dealings with the criminal justice system and to ensure that only children who pose a serious risk are remanded,” said Greens Justice spokesperson Sue Pennicuik today.
“I had also raised concerns with the Attorney-General before the legislation was introduced, about the increase in children on remand and the need to amend the Bail Act to address this.
“Recent comments that there are no consequences for children who break the law as a result of the new bail laws for minors are simply not true and create unnecessary concern in the community.
“If a young person breaches a bail condition they can still be arrested and brought back to court and may have their bail revoked,” said Ms. Pennicuik. “Secondly, if they commit a criminal offence whilst on bail they can be charged with that offence and the fact that it was committed whilst on bail will be a factor that the court can consider. It is just that there is no separate offence for breaching bail.
“Also, young offenders who pose a high risk and have committed a serious offence can still be denied bail. There are still serious consequences for serious offending,” said Ms. Pennicuik.
“As the Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People has stated, the new bail laws are needed because it does not make sense to make it a separate crime for a young person on bail to break a curfew. This will not stop them from reoffending.
“Importantly, additional factors the new laws create for courts to refer to when considering bail such as preserving the child’s relationship with their family and carers and their education and training are important to help get the young person back on track,” said Ms. Pennicuik.
“Also the presumption to proceed by way of summons rather than arrest also assists in ensuring that decisions on how criminal proceedings are initiated are more consistent in light of concerns raised by the Victorian Law Reform Commission and the legal community, and align with Victoria Police best practice.
“These new bail laws go a long way to help prevent young offenders becoming entrenched in the justice system and promote their rehabilitation which is in the interests of community safety,” said Ms. Pennicuik.