Children’s court

Press, 21 April 1977, Page 6

Children’s court

Sittings of the Children and Young Persons Court are still being held, in spite of a ban by social workers on preparing court reports. Mr K. W. Frampton, S.M., who presided yesterday, heard the usual run of cases of burglary and theft, but because many reports were not available, the young offenders were remanded either in the care of the Social Welfare Department or of their parents.

Magistrates can still hear] the cases but cannot makel any final order or impose; fines until a Social Welfare! Department officer’s report is obtained. A social worker in court yesterday disagreed with an assertion made by a Wellington senior magistrate, Mr J. A. Wicks, S.M., that the Children and Young Perisons Court would come to a ihalt because of the ban on

providing court reports. : Cases would continue to be called but would be re- ; manded rather than finally dealt with, the social worker said. He also rejected the view ; that the situation created : inconvenience to persons on : bail during the remand and caused greater injustice to I those remanded in custody. : “This may well be so for : adults, but it is certainly not ■the case for children,” he (said. “No child or young person will face injustice because of the ban.” ! The social worker said ; that children who really needed attention were still given it during the period of : the ban. “We will then lay a complaint and recommend that the child be either remanded in the custody of the Social Welfare Department or put in the care of : its parents,” he said.

There had been no ini creases in the number of ■ custodial remands since the ■ ban was imposed on Mon- ■ day, he said. The ban on court reports ' was the least inconveninet I type of action for Social i Welfare clients, but social I workers would still attend i court sittings, said the local . Public Service Association ■ representative of the Depart- ; ment of Social Welfare. i Instead of preparing the ;50 court reports usually compiled each week, Social Welfare workers would conI tinue to carry out all their ’ other duties including child ! care, adoptions, and custody 1 work. Many of their complaints I arose from the “tremendous ■ increase in responsibility : and in the work load of the department since the amal- ’ gamation of services in 1975.”