Questionnaire England/Wales
I.2 Through what methods?
Through:
- caution – the cautioning system is not quite the same for youths and adult offenders. Cautions are seen as a statement of guilt and can be admitted in court as evidence of such. Therefore there are various safeguards intended to prevent the police from cautioning whenever they adjudge a suspect to be guilty but could not collect sufficient evidence to secure a prosecution. For youths (under 17) there is a system of reprimands and warnings, which have the intention of giving youths chances not to enter the criminal justice system. At the latter warning stage there may be conditions attached such as working with a Youth Offender Team (YOT). The CPS may also advise the police to issue a warning although under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 both agencies have the power to issue conditional ‘warnings’ without consultation of the other agency;
- oral/written admonition see answer above; and
- victim offender mediation. This may occur as part of the work with the YOT.
- caution – the cautioning system is not quite the same for youths and adult offenders. Cautions are seen as a statement of guilt and can be admitted in court as evidence of such. Therefore there are various safeguards intended to prevent the police from cautioning whenever they adjudge a suspect to be guilty but could not collect sufficient evidence to secure a prosecution. For youths (under 17) there is a system of reprimands and warnings, which have the intention of giving youths chances not to enter the criminal justice system. At the latter warning stage there may be conditions attached such as working with a Youth Offender Team (YOT). The CPS may also advise the police to issue a warning although under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 both agencies have the power to issue conditional ‘warnings’ without consultation of the other agency;
- oral/written admonition see answer above; and
- victim offender mediation. This may occur as part of the work with the YOT.
