Written evidence to be reported to the House

Part of Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:00 pm on 16 October 2007.

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Cindy Barnett: We certainly do not see them as a total disadvantage. In some ways it is a welcome tidying-up because it brings the youth provisions closer to those in the adult court. Having said that, there are some concerns about whether they will confuse people. Of course, everybody gets used to a change in legislation, but this will cause a big change from a selection of things in the youth court that have not been there that long. It is yet anther big change.

We hope that it will increase the flexibility of sentencing, which is something that we always welcome. We would like to hear a little more about the detail of certain matters as the Bill goes through and there are some specifics that we are not entirely happy with. However, as long as it increases flexibility and does not deprive us of any sentencing options, we are content with the general concept.