THE CHILDREN’S COURT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20088, 3 May 1927, Page 10

THE CHILDREN’S COURT.

OPERATION OF CHILD WELFARE ACT.

Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., delivered an interesting address to the members oi the Dunedin Rotary Club at its latest weekly luncheon, in which ho traced the development of the system of dealing with juvenile crime in the Dominion, and described the method under which the Child Welfare Act is administered. Relating his own experience, he said that when the Juvenile Court was established he adopted the practice of dealing with cases in his own room at the Magistrate’s Court. This proved unsatisfactory in some cases, since the homeliness and informality of the proceedings failed in making any impression on a certain class of parent. In consequence the proceedings in this class of case wove transferred to the court, and he had found that an admonition addressed from the Bench was more effective than one spoken across the table in his room. In April, 1926, the Child Welfare Act came into operation, and it provided for the appointment of assoiates whose concurrence was not necessary for the determination of the court, so that while they had a .voice they had no vote in a decision. Ho had viewed this now departure with some apprehension, but ho had to confess that ms experience of the .operation of the system had satisfied him that it resulted in more efficient dealing with the cases of juvenile crime. He was fortunate in having the assistance of such associates as Mrs George Roberts and Mr Waddell Smith. They did not regard their responsibilities as having been discharged when the decision of tho court was announced. If the offender was a girl she would be told to wait after tho close of tho court, and Mrs Roberts would go and talk to her and would subsequently visit her in her home, exerting her influence with the girl, and in the same way Mr Waddell Smith would speak to the boy offender and maintain a personal supervision over him. Their practice was to admit to the proceedings in the court only those poisons who were directly interested in a case. Tho policemen who wore present wore not in uniform; there were no solicitors unless any who were professionally engaged; and there were no representatives of the press. It might have been noticed that there wore frequent references in tho newspapers to the proceedings of tho Children’s Court in northern centres. What he had said would explain tho absence of any publicity concerning tho proceedings in Dunedin. He believed that the system that was adopted here was the better one. Tho juvenile offenders fell into defined classes. There were those whose offences were committed thoughtlessly; there were those —and these were the bulk of tho offenders—who came from homes whore tho parental control was lax; there wore the bad and vicious, who were to be found in every community ; and there were tho abnormal —a very limited number —in whoso case tho recommendation of the court to tho parents was to secure medical advice for tho children. Ho did not accept the view that all cases of juvenile crime should bo investigated by a psychiatrist or submitted to treatment by psycho-analysis, and ho was impressed with the conclusion expressed by a London magistrate, who had lately retired after forty years’ service, that this view was mischievous and wrong. While he did not say that the last word had been said in dealing with juveniles, ho claimed that our system was quite advanced and innovations should not be made without full consideration and deliberation. The great majority of oases were merely those of errant children who were not to be regarded as in any way abnormal. Ho regretted that the accommodation that was provided for tho Children’s Court in Dunedin was inadequate. The Child Welfare Act provided for the establishment of a court apart from tho ordinary court premises, and a room in the Lands Office was utilised for the purpose. There were no waiting rooms, however, and persons who might be required to await their turn for the hearing of a caso in which they_ were concerned were required to loiter about passage ways in which there was a considerable amount of traffic on the part ol persons having business to do with tho other Government Departments in the building. Representations had been made to Wellington, and ho hoped that more satisfactory accommodation would shortly bo provided for the court.