Youth Courts will take a new approach to cases, focused on underlying issues and supporting needs
SINGAPORE - A new approach, which focuses on addressing the issues that underlies why a person ends up in Court, will be used to manage young offenders and other cases in the Youth Court.
The Family Justice Courts (FJC) will assign a dedicated multidisciplinary team, such as the same judge and the same counsellor or psychologist, to manage selected cases from start to end, under the therapeutic justice approach.
This would give the team a deeper understanding of each case and the issues involved, build trust, and provide more holistic support to the individuals or families involved.
Chief Justice (CJ) Sundaresh Menon announced this on July 23 at the official opening of the FJC building.
The FJC - which comprises the Family Division of the High Court, the Family Courts and the Youth Courts - moved into the iconic octagonal building in Havelock Square that housed the former State Courts.
The therapeutic justice approach is already used for divorce cases, where the focus is on problem-solving and helping parents manage conflict and co-parent, instead of the former adversarial approach.
CJ Menon said the same principles will guide Youth Court cases : 'In this paradigm, underlying issues that shape a young person's behaviour and circumstances should be identified and addressed together with the legal issues before the Court whenever possible.
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'Children and young persons deserve nothing less than a supportive system that keeps them safe, addresses their underlying needs and sets them on a path towards a better future - whether the presenting issue is criminal conduct, family conflict or parental neglect.'
Besides youth offenders, the Youth Court also hears applications for the care and protection of children, such as those who have been abused by their parents, among other cases.
The CJ said that where 'reasonably practicable', multidisciplinary teams from both the Family and Youth Courts will aim to work together if a family has concurrent proceedings in both Courts to provide a more co-ordinated response to the family's needs.
He said: 'Such a collective approach will promote shared understanding between teams, facilitate exchanges on any safety or risk concerns, and encourage timely referrals to therapeutic support services, all while ensuring that the confidentiality of information is not compromised.'
The Youth Courts will also explore using a new tool - a Visionary Map - to guide youth offenders through structured reflection on their past choices and encourage change.
The CJ also said the Youth Courts will adopt a 'whole of community' approach where the Courts, parents, social workers, educators and community partners will come together to support each young person.
For example, the FJC will explore ways to identify students who are not in school, for example they were suspended or expelled, and work with different partners to help them return to school.
CJ Menon said the therapeutic justice principles will complement existing practices at the Youth Courts, which are already centred on rehabilitation.
He said: 'In the future that we are striving to create, every child or young person who enters our justice system should leave with the tools that will ensure that they need never to come back.
'Our aim is not to be a revolving door, but a one-time intervention that sets a life on a new and better path.'
Turning to other cases, CJ Menon said that the FJC is now coming up with an online dispute resolution platform that could transform existing court processes and allow applications for maintenance to be resolved expediently.
A key feature is an algorithm that suggests reasonable maintenance amounts for ex-wives or children.
He said: 'The platform exemplifies a core principle of therapeutic justice - that families should be empowered to find their own solutions and resolve disputes with minimal intervention by external adjudicators but with as much access as possible to relevant information.'
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