§ Mr. TURNER-SAMUELSasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Home Secretary is prepared to introduce a reform into the present character of the courts dealing with offences by children whereby the hearing of such cases may he held elsewhere than in a police court, and so that the presence of uniformed officers may be dispensed with?
Mr. DAVIESThe Children Act, 1908, directs that a Court of Summary Jurisdiction when hearing charges against young persons under 16 (unless the young persons are charged jointly with adults) shall sit in a different building or room86W from that in which the ordinary sittings of the Court are held or on different days or at different times from those at which the ordinary sittings are held. In many places the Juvenile Courts are held in separate buildings, but I do not think it would be practicable or desirable to make such a requirement compulsory. In London under the special provisions of the Juvenile Courts (Metropolis) Act, 1920, most of the Juvenile Courts are held elsewhere than in the Police Court; but where a suitable building is not available the Juvenile Court is held in a separate room at the Police Court. A great advance has been made in recent years in the methods of dealing with juvenile offenders, and I believe that, generally speaking, magistrates endeavour to make the proceedings as little like those of a Police Court as possible.