I’m under 18 and am going to court
The Youth Court is for people aged 10 to 17. It isn't as formal as adult court. You won't see the judge or lawyers in wigs or gowns. If you are there because you have been accused of something, you will sit near the judge. If you are under 16, you must have a parent or guardian with you in court. If you are aged 16 or 17, your parents must accompany you in court if they are ordered by the court to do so. If they aren't there, it will hold up the process. Your lawyer will ask you questions, and so will the lawyer for the other side. They may also question witnesses or a victim, if there is one.
If you are accused of something very serious, you may have to go to Crown Court (which is where adults are sometimes also sent). Regulators make sure that lawyers do their job properly when they go to court. For example, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) makes sure that lawyers who are barristers do their job well. The BSB and other regulators are working to make standards in Youth Court as high as possible. They want young people to get the best legal support they can.
Lawyers are working harder to make sure that young people with special needs get the right help and support when they go to court.
If you have a legal problem and don't know what to do, find out where you can get help.
- If a person has been summoned to court, what kind of help or assistance is provided to them to get ready to go to court?
- If you're going to court 'cause you've been arrested for a crime, then you have the right to access a solicitor for free. And you might have your own solicitor already, but if you don't, there are these things called duty solicitors. And they have to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help people who've been arrested for a crime. They'll explain what your rights are in the police station, what will happen in the police station, and then, if you or when you end up going to court, they will kind of explain what's gonna happen and what you need to be prepared for.
If you've been summoned to court as a witness, there is something called the Citizens Advice Witness Service, and they provide kinda practical support to people who are going to court as a witness. It could be just explaining how the courts work. It could be doing like a pre-visit to court. So if you're nervous about the court hearing, giving your evidence, the Witness Service can actually take you to court to kinda look around. And they can provide kinda moral, emotional support, as well as a few other things.
- And so these things that we're talking about, like the witness, what did you call it, sorry?
- The Witness Service, yeah.
- The Witness Service and the duty solicitor, do you find them at the court itself?
- Duty solicitors work in police stations. The Witness Service is run by Citizens Advice, but they cover every court in England and Wales. There are also organisations like Support Through Court. So increasingly, especially in areas of civil law, people represent themselves in court, and there are charities like Support Through Court which, I mean, kinda does what it says on the tin, it supports people who are going to court to represent themselves by explaining how it's gonna work, giving them advice, and in some cases, arranging for them to get free representation.