Commentary on Sections Part 1: Sexual offences Anonymity of suspects Section 18: Consequential amendment
This section makes a consequential amendment to section 44(4)(a) of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (restrictions on reporting alleged offences involving persons under 18). Section 44(4)(a) prohibits the publication of matters that could identify a person as involved in an offence while that person is under the age of 18.
The amendment excludes from section 44(4)(a), a suspect to whom new section 12(2) applies to ensure that the two legislative regimes do not overlap.