Guidance issued to magistrates following Howard League legal case

Some weeks ago Howard League lawyers took legal action against two magistrates courts for unlawfully ordering the police to arrest a child for not paying a fine.  As a result the 15-year-old boy was detained for two nights at the police station.

I am extremely pleased to report that following this case new guidance has been issued to put a stop to it. The Justices Clerks Society, the body that advises magistrates, has told its members “not to request the court to issue a summons or warrant to secure attendance at court in respect of a young person for non-payment”.

We will now be requesting that courts monitor compliance with this instruction and put systems in place to ensure it does not happen again in the future.

Comments

• Children should not be summonsed to court for non payment of fines - interim guidance - Youth Justice Legal Centre says:

  29 Nov 2016 at 12:29 pm

  […] Read the Howard League for Penal reform blog. […]

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