Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000

The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament that advances a number of agendas related to criminal justice. It instituted the National Probation Service as well as the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. The Act also makes the parents of persistent truants criminally liable and subject to a maximum penalty of three months in prison,[1][2] a legal change that led to the first imprisonment of parents in 2002.[3][4]

Criminal Justice and Court Services Act
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act to establish a National Probation Service for England and Wales and a Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service; to make further provision for the protection of children; to make further provision about dealing with persons suspected of, charged with or convicted of offences; to amend the law relating to access to information held under Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1988; and for connected purposes.
Text of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

On sentencing, the Act formally removes the role of the Home Secretary in sentencing of young people for grave crimes (such as murder) following the decisions by the House of Lords in R v Secretary of State for the Home Dept ex parte Venables and Thompson (1997)[5] and the subsequent case at the European Court of Human Rights, T. v United Kingdom. The European Court of Human Rights had found that the right to a fair trial guaranteed by the Convention had been infringed in the cases of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables (the murderers of James Bulger) by having sentences determined by the serving Home Secretary, a political appointee. §60 of the Act assigns the power to sentence those people under 18 who are tried as adults for serious crimes with the trial judge rather than the Home Secretary.[6][7][8]

The Act introduced a number of drugs-related provisions including drug abstinence orders, a community-based sentence that allows a court to order an offender to abstain from specified class A drugs. It also allows for pre-sentence drug testing of convicted offenders, as well as drug testing of people held in police custody.

References
  1. Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, §72
  2. "Truancy timeline: 1997-2009". BBC News. 11 February 2009.
  3. "Jailing parents: What happened next?". BBC News. 12 February 2009.
  4. "Truancy mother sent to jail again". BBC News. 23 March 2004.
  5. [1997] All ER 97
  6. T v. United Kingdom, bailii.org
  7. Reg. v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, Ex parte V. and Reg. v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, Ex parte T., publications.parliament.uk
  8. Mark Ryan; Steve Foster (16 May 2014). Unlocking Constitutional and Administrative Law. Routledge. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4441-7962-0.
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