(1)A person other than a qualified informant shall not lay an information in respect of an offence if the alleged offender is a young person.
(2)A qualified informant shall not lay an information in respect of an offence if the alleged offender is a young person unless the informant is of opinion that the case is of a description prescribed in pursuance of subsection (4) of this section and that it would not be adequate for the case to be dealt with by a parent, teacher or other person or by means of a caution from a constable or through an exercise of the powers of a local authority or other body not involving court proceedings or by means of proceedings under [F1section 1 of this Act][F1Part IV of the Children Act 1989].
(3)A qualified informant shall not come to a decision in pursuance of the preceding subsection to lay an information unless—
(a)he has told the appropriate local authority that the laying of the information is being considered and has asked for any observations which the authority may wish to make on the case to the informant; and
(b)the authority either have notified the informant that they do not wish to make such observations or have not made any during the period or extended period indicated by the informant as that which in the circumstances he considers reasonable for the purpose or the informant has considered the observations made by the authority during that period;
but the informant shall be entitled to disregard the foregoing provisions of this subsection in any case in which it appears to him that the requirements of the preceding subsection are satisfied and will continue to be satisfied notwithstanding any observations which might be made in pursuance of this subsection.
(4)The Secretary of State may make regulations specifying, by reference to such considerations as he thinks fit, the descriptions of cases in which a qualified informant may lay an information in respect of an offence if the alleged offender is a young person; but no regulations shall be made under this subsection unless a draft of the regulations has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
(5)An information laid by a qualified informant in a case where the informant has reason to believe that the alleged offender is a young person shall be in writing and shall—
(a)state the alleged offender’s age to the best of the informant’s knowledge; and
(b)contain a certificate signed by the informant stating that the requirements of subsections (2) and (3) of this section are satisfied with respect to the case or that the case is one in which the requirements of the said subsection (2) are satisfied and the informant is entitled to disregard the requirements of the said subsection (3).
(6)If at the time when justices begin to inquire into a case, either as examining justices or on the trial of an information, they have reason to believe that the alleged offender is a young person and either—
(a)it appears to them that the person who laid the information in question was not a qualified informant when he laid it; or
(b)the information is not in writing or does not contain such a certificate as is mentioned in subsection (5)(b) of this section,
it shall be their duty to quash the information, without prejudice to the laying of a further information in respect of the matter in question; but no proceedings shall be invalidated by reason of a contravention of any provision of this section and no action shall lie, by reason only of such a contravention, in respect of proceedings in respect of which such a contravention has occurred.
(7)Nothing in the preceding provisions of this section applies to an information laid with the consent of the Attorney General or laid by or on behalf or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
(8)It shall be the duty of a person who decides to lay an information in respect of an offence in a case where he has reason to believe that the alleged offender is a young person to give notice of the decision to the appropriate local authority unless he is himself that authority.
(9)In this section—
“the appropriate local authority”, in relation to a young person, means the local authority for the area in which it appears to the informant in question that the young person resides or, if the young person appears to the informant not to reside in the area of a local authority, the local authority in whose area it is alleged that the relevant offence or one of the relevant offences was committed; and
“qualified informant” means a servant of the Crown, a police officer and a member of designated police force acting in his capacity as such a servant, officer or member, a local authority, the Greater London Council, the council of a [F2district] and any body designated as a public body for the purposes of this section;
and in this subsection “designated” means designated by an order made by the Secretary of State; but nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing any council or other body from acting by an agent for the purposes of this section.
Textual Amendments
F1Words “Part IV of the Children Act 1989” substituted (prosp.) for words “section 1 of this Act” by Children Act 1989 (c. 41, SIF 20), s. 108(2)(4)(6), Sch. 12 para. 20, Sch. 14 para. 1(1)
F2Word substituted by virtue of Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70, SIF 81:1), s. 179(3)