Juvenile Justice Authority - Essay Example

They have their own courts and their own rehabilitation centres (Fisher 2000). Gies (2001) notes that, the juvenile courts work according to the premise that the children are different from the adults in terms of responsibilities and rehabilitation. Treatment and successful reintegration of the youths in to the society are the main aim of the juvenile justice authority. Under federal law, all children between the age of ten and eighteen are considered as juvenile. Though, each state determine who is to taken to the juvenile court.

Cases can be transferred from criminal courts to juvenile court, depending on the offence committed. When a child is tried in a criminal court he or she is still considered a child, and he may be treated as a youth offender. This makes the process a closed hearing unlike an adult who will be given a public hearing. All the states, do allow children to be tried as adults in a criminal court depending with the crime committed, Some states exclude serious, committed crime from juvenile courts regardless of the childs age.

The prosecutors decide on whether to find a criminal offence in a criminal court or taken to the juvenile system. On the other hand, the juvenile court may order the child to criminal court. In the juvenile justice, the juvenile is provided with safeguards, just like the adult criminal. This includes the right to trial, the right against self defence and the right to call a witness. In most states the juvenile there are no juries, and they not demand a bail. The juvenile court has been seen by the youth who passed through it as a guardian that models individual characters and the court aimed at providing for the child’s individual interests when making decisions on the crime committed (Ryan 2001).

The process by which a chid goes through after a period of confinement has many names like after care services, reintegration services, transitional care and juvenile services. The process of