Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is given to magistrates in deciding whether young offenders under 17 years of age should be confined in Her Majesty's prisons.
§ Mr. John PattenThe only juveniles under 17 who may be remanded to prison department establishments are 15 and 16-year-old boys who have been refused bail and certified by a court as being too unruly to be safely remanded to local authority care. The criteria governing the issue of unruliness certificates are laid down in the Certificates of Unruly Character (Conditions) Order 1977. The use of the sentence of detention in a young offender institution, which is available for some juveniles, is governed by the criteria in section 1 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982. Guidance to courts on the use of their powers is given from time to time by the Court of Appeal.