Schedule 8: Costs in criminal cases: service courts Part 3: Sentencing and punishment of offenders Youth sentences Section 83: Youth rehabilitation order: duration
455.This section amends the current provisions in Schedules 1 and 2 to the the 2008 Act which set out the duration of youth rehabilitation orders. Under the current provisions where an order has multiple requirements which may themselves be time limited it can be unclear when the order is completed. In some cases this can result in the requirements being completed before the end date of the order requiring the case to be returned to court to revoke the order.
456.Subsection (1) amends Schedule 1 to the 2008 Act to enable the court to specify different completion dates for different requirements attached to an order and for the end date of the order to be the same as the last completion date for a requirement.
457.Subsection (2) inserts new sub-paragraphs (6A) to (6D) in paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 to allow a magistrates’ court to extend the end date of an order by up to 6 months where a further requirement is imposed but only on one occasion. If the order is extended under these provisions then it may extend beyond the three year maximum length set out in Schedule 1.
458.Subsection (3) inserts new sub-paragraphs (6A) to (6D) in paragraph 8 of Schedule 2 which makes the same amendments to the powers in the Crown Court as subsection (2) does to the powers of the magistrates’ court.
459.Subsection (5) inserts a new paragraph 16A in Schedule 2 relating to the exercise of powers of the magistrates’ court or Crown court when dealing with breach of a youth rehabilitation order to cancel or replace requirements in the order. Sub-paragraph (1) of new paragraph 16A allows a court to amend the end date of an order where either the offender or responsible officer requests this. Further provisions limit the extension of the end date to a maximum period of 6 months beyond the end date of the original order and allow the overall length of the order to extend beyond the maximum of three years where the order is so extended. This power to extend is limited to one occasion only. Sub-paragraph (6) provides that the court amending the length of the order must be a youth court where the offender is aged under 18 at the time the application to extend is made or an adult magistrates’ court where the offender has reached the age of 18.