Juvenile courts or young offender courts are courts specifically created and given authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by persons who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, crimes committed by children and minors are treated differently and differentially regarding the same crimes committed by adults.

Purpose of Juvenile Court

One of the purposes it was founded on was to give young, impressionable youth a second chance, supposedly offering counseling and other programs for rehabilitation, as plain punishment was deemed less beneficial.

Reform

In a study of the Los Angeles' Juvenile Courts, there are many facts that suggest that the system is in need of a revolutionary reform. It sends too many children with good chances of rehabilitation to adult court, while pushing aside and acquitting children early on the road in crime instead of giving counseling, support, and accountability. 57% of children arrested for the first time are never heard from again, 27% get arrested one or two more times, and 16% commit four or more crimes, which range from theft to murder. (Info and statistics from "No Matter How Loud I Shout" by Edward Humes, a journalist accounting his observations of the Juvenile Court in Los Angeles)

Jeugdrechtbank (België) | Juvenile law