Section 178 — Sentencing Act 2002: New sections 142AA and 142AB inserted into Criminal Justice Act 1985

178 New sections 142AA and 142AB inserted into Criminal Justice Act 1985 The Criminal Justice Act 1985 is amended by inserting, after section 142 , the following sections: “ 142AA Special provisions until 1 July 2004 as to young persons remanded or committed for trial or sentence On and from the commencement date of the Sentencing Act 2002 and until the close of 30 June 2004, section 142 must be read as if for the heading and subsections (1) to (3) of that section there were substituted the following provisions: “‘ 142 Special provisions as to young persons remanded or committed for trial or sentence “‘ (1) Despite anything in any other enactment,— “‘ (a) no person under the age of 15 years may be remanded to a penal institution pending the hearing or trial of any charge or pending sentence: “‘ (b) No person who has attained the age of 15 years but has not attained the age of 17 years may be remanded to a penal institution pending the hearing or trial of any charge or pending sentence, except where the person is charged with or has been convicted of a purely indictable offence (within the meaning of section 18 of the Sentencing Act 2002). “‘ (2) No person who has attained the age of 15 years but has not attained the age of 16 years may be remanded to a penal institution pending trial or sentencing unless,— “‘ (a) in the case of a remand pending trial, the court is satisfied that the period that the person is likely to be on remand pending trial will not be less than 2 months; and “‘ (b) the chief executive, or an officer of the department authorised in that behalf by the chief executive, has furnished to the court a certificate stating that detention of the young person in the custody of the chief executive under an order under this section for the likely period of remand would be likely to prejudice the ability of the department to meet demands to detain other young persons in the department's residences under similar orders; and “‘ (c) the court is satisfied that remand to a penal institution is in all the circumstances appropriate. “‘ (2A) In subsections (1) and (2) a reference to a penal institution does not include a police jail. “‘ (2B) For the purposes of subsection (2),— “‘ chief executive means the chief executive of the department “‘ department means the department that is, with the authority of the Prime Minister, for the time being responsible for the administration of the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989. “‘ (3) Subject to subsections (1) and (2) and to the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989, the provisions of subsections (4), (4A), (4B), and (5) of this section apply in respect of every person who is under the age of 17 years and who is charged with or convicted of any offence in a District Court or the High Court.' “‘ 142AB Expiry of section 142AA Section 142AA expires at the close of 30 June 2004. ’”