Privacy and sitting arrangements

Privacy and sitting arrangements  

To protect juveniles from the stigma of criminal proceedings and “criminal contamination” from adult offenders, the law mandates strict physical and procedural separation: 

(i) Separation from adult defendants 

The Juvenile Court must not sit in a room where an adult court session was held within one hour before or after.  

Juveniles must also be kept separated from adults in police stations, being conveyed to or from court, or waiting before and after attendance. 

Specialised separate waiting areas are provided to ensure no association with adult accused persons. 

(ii) Gender protections 

Any female juvenile must be under the care of a female while in detention, waiting, or being conveyed. 

(iii) Restricted attendance 

The Juvenile Court is not an open court. Attendance is limited to court officers, parties to the case, their solicitors, counsel, witnesses, and other persons directly concerned (such as social workers), bona fide representatives of newspapers or news agencies, and persons specifically authorised by the court. 

Although the media are generally permitted, the court possesses the power to exclude any representative of a newspaper or news agency if it considers such an order necessary in the interests of the juvenile. 

(iv) Informality 

The atmosphere is intentionally relaxed. The permanent magistrate does not wear a robe, and counsel may address the court while seated. 

(v) Clearing the court 

In cases involving “decency or morality”, the court can exclude everyone except those directly concerned while a juvenile witness is testifying, though this does not authorize the exclusion of accredited media.