Public trial in an adult court of juvenile charged with murder and imposition of a sentence of detention during Her Majesty’s pleasure with a tariff of fifteen years fixed by a member of the executive. The trial of two ten year olds in a public forum, under intense public scrutiny, made the trial unfair: ‘it is essential that a child charged with an offence is dealt with in a manner which takes full account of his age, level of maturity and intellectual and emotional capacities, and that steps are taken to promote his ability to understand and participate in the proceedings’. A punitive measure should be set by the courts, and not by a political process, and a long sentence for a child must allow for later developments: ‘the fixing of a minimum term was part of the proceedings and amounted to a sentencing exercise; that article 6(1) was therefore applicable; that that article guaranteed a fair hearing by an impartial tribunal independent of the executive; and that the Secretary of State was clearly not independent of the executive.’
Citations:
Gazette 08-Apr-1999, (1999) 30 EHRR 12
Jurisdiction:
Human Rights
Citing:
See Also – Regina v Secretary of State For The Home Department, Ex Parte Venables, Regina v Secretary of State For The Home Department, Ex Parte Thompson HL 12-Jun-1997
A sentence of detention during her majesty’s pleasure when imposed on a youth was not the same as a sentence of life imprisonment, and the Home Secretary was wrong to treat it on the same basis and to make allowance for expressions of public . .
Cited by:
Cited – D (A Minor), Regina (on the Application of) v Camberwell Green Youth Court HL 27-Jan-2005
The defendant challenged the obligatory requirement that evidence given by a person under 17 in sex or violent offence cases must normally be given by video link.
Held: The purpose of the section was to improve the quality of the evidence . .
See Also – V v The United Kingdom; T v The United Kingdom ECHR 16-Dec-1999
The claimant challenged to the power of the Secretary of State to set a tariff where the sentence was imposed pursuant to section 53(1). The setting of the tariff was found to be a sentencing exercise which failed to comply with Article 6(1) of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Children, Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.89671