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inserts new sections 25(3) and (4) into the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 allowing the court to make an order for a joint committal proceeding where a child and adult are charged in relation to the same offence. The child must be of or over the age of 15 at the time the proceeding is commenced and must be charged with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, arson causing death or culpable driving causing death. As a result, the new process only allows a joint committal for indictable offences which cannot be tried summarily in the Children's Court. This clause, along with clause 377 of the Bill, which amends the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, introduces a basic structure in which agreement between the courts occurs by one court considering the matter and making an order that the matter is appropriate to be determined as a joint committal proceeding. Under new subsection (4), the Court may order that joint committal proceedings are appropriate, having had regard to matters including—
the age of the child; and
the effect on victims of the offence charged if the committal proceedings were not conducted jointly; and
the estimated duration of the committal proceedings if conducted jointly; and
the number of witnesses that would be cross-examined by both defendants.
Once the first court has made its order, it may adjourn the matter for 28 days; if within that period the other court also considers that a joint committal is appropriate, then the provisions in both the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 and the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 will apply to confer jurisdiction to conduct joint committal proceedings. If joint committal proceedings are conducted, the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 applies as far as practicable to the child and the Criminal Procedure Act 2008 applies as far as practicable to the adult.