By Maggie Tait of NZPA

Wellington, April 21 NZPA - Police wait to deal with child offenders until they turn 14 because they prefer Youth Court processes to those in the Family Court, MPs were told today.

New Zealand Law Society youth justice committee member Sonja Cooper, who is a youth lawyer, today appeared before a parliamentary inquiry into the rehabilitation, care and protection of child offenders, which is being held by the social services committee.

Younger children are dealt with by the Family Court while those 14 and over go to the Youth Court. However, a recently passed law has extended the jurisdiction of the Youth Court to include 12 or 13-year-olds accused of serious offences.

Ms Cooper said the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act was complex and sections dealing with child offending were not grouped together. Processes were also difficult for some users.

"The anecdotal information we have... is that the police in particular who are responsible at the end of the day for the child offending part of the Act find it difficult," she said.

"I think there is a general reluctance to therefore apply for declarations in the Family Court. Sometimes I think the perception would be, and we certainly hear that, that it would actually be easier to wait until they are 14 and they hit the Youth Court -- by which stage of course they've probably developed a much more serious pattern of offending."

But there were more resources at Family Court to deal with the bigger picture than were available through Youth Court where the focus was on offending rather than the child's welfare.

"We can do a Band-Aid around the bigger care and protection issues we do not have the resources that are available in the Family Court."

National MP Chester Borrows, a former police officer, said the law may be complex but it had been in place for 20 years so people who worked in the area knew how it operated.

"It seems to me the reluctance to use the Family Court procedures for youth justice matters is really just police can't be stuffed."

Ms Cooper responded: "That's probably right."

She said Family Court procedures were more complex and took longer -- such as getting parties including family together for a conference -- but they were far more comprehensive.

"In Youth Court family group conferences have to be held within 21 days, in the Family Court you might be waiting four, five or six weeks for a referral to be picked up."

In Family Court more consultation was done and more resources were brought in.

"But it means that for the police who want things to happen more quickly the Youth Court presents the more attractive option."

Mr Borrows said the system needed to be streamlined to remove barriers to using the Family Court and build confidence in it.

"My overwhelming concern is that there is a lack of confidence in the ability of the Family Court to deal with these matters in a timely way."

The Law Society was also concerned that elements of the Youth Court were being imported into the Family Court and that raised issues about the welfare versus justice approach. At the moment Family Court lawyers did not need criminal training but they might need that.

"That actually raises much broader issues that I think this committee might want to think about... if we are going to bring in more of a youth justice model it's quite a big shift."

The committee also heard from a group of academics and clinicians. They argued that the Ministry of Social Development invested too much in programmes that were not proven to be effective such as military-style training -- a government initiative. The group said parent management training, for example, was shown to work and it suggested ways of improving selection of programmes and related infrastructure.

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