Bail changes a ‘dagger in the heart’ of youth justice system, lawyers warn

The lawyers who represent kids facing the Territory’s youth courts have slammed the NT government’s bail reforms as ‘a dagger in the heart of our youth justice system’.

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THE lawyers who represent kids facing the Territory’s youth courts have slammed the NT government’s bail reforms as “a dagger in the heart of our youth justice system”.

Criminal Lawyers Association of the NT president Marty Aust said aspects of the bill appeared “misconceived, misunderstood and misrepresent the aims and outcomes they seek to achieve” — and may even be unconstitutional.

“The power of a court to grant bail to a person who has been charged with an offence but not convicted is fundamental,” Mr Aust said.

“Whether by design, indifference or incompetence, provisions within the bill appear to abrogate basic fundamental human rights as well as the doctrine of the separation of powers and the function and duties of a court under chapter three of the Australian Constitution.”

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Mr Aust said “embarrassingly for the government” provisions proposed in the youth justice bill were internally inconsistent and would effectively cancel each other out in practice.

“Such a result is farcical and would bring the administration of the youth justice system into disrepute,” he said.

Mr Aust said the removal of the presumption for bail for the vast majority of offences committed by youths was “unconscionable” as its “sole purpose is to lock up children” and the new classification of particular bail breaches as “serious” was misleading.

“While certain breaches of bail may well be serious, often breaches are a product of instability or a lack of safety in a home environment, a court could not take this into account (under the changes),” he said.

He described the bill’s second reading speech as a “eulogy” for youth justice and its passage as “the burial of our youth justice system”.

“The NT government has now abandoned its commitment to improving the youth justice system or transitioning to a therapeutic system,” he said.

Criminal Lawyers Association of the NT president Marty Aust. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

In contrast, Police Association president Paul McCue welcomed the changes as a “positive first step in recognising the impact to victims of crimes in the current climate”.

“It is clear the government have taken on board direct feedback from our members on the ground who, for too long, carry the workload of what is a larger social issue – one which has to start in the home,” Mr McCue said.

“We hope to see changes in legislation passed next week on urgency to begin breaking the cycle of crime, in particular for the 16 per cent of youths who continue to reoffend.

“Doing this should prevent some of the horrendous attacks we have seen on the community and our police in recent times.”

Mr McCue said any objection to the legislation passing only served to delay helping not only future victims of crime but “helping the children rehabilitate from what are clearly unsafe home environments and a life filled with nothing but crime”.

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