Effective participation, parent or guardian and reporting

Effective participationGlossary termEffective participation means a practical ability to understand broadly what the case is about and what is at stake, follow the substance of the evidence, communicate privately with the lawyer, give instructions and make informed decisions. It does not require mastery of every legal argument. Nor is it established merely by physical presence, a solicitor’s attendance or repeated answers of “yes”. The court must adapt the process to the particular child. Sources: Criminal Procedure Rules 2025, SI 2025/909, and current Part 3, Criminal Practice Directions 2023 — consolidated amendments 16 March 2026, S.C. v United Kingdom, application 60958/00, ECtHR, 15 June 2004

Identify learning, neurodevelopmental, mental-health, trauma, hearing, language and literacy needs early. Obtain an assessment where it is needed to understand the difficulty. Appropriate adaptations may include concrete language, one question at a time, slower pace, breaks, suitable seating, visual explanations and ground rules for questioning. An intermediary assists communication; the lawyer advises and represents; the court decides. A defendant’s entitlement to an intermediary or live link must be examined under the applicable powers and conditions, not assumed from the different statutory scheme for a vulnerable prosecution witness. Sources: Criminal Procedure Rules 2025, SI 2025/909, and current Part 3, Criminal Practice Directions 2023 — consolidated amendments 16 March 2026

Ask the child to explain in their own words what the charge alleges, what decision is being made and what the possible next steps are. Recheck understanding after unfamiliar evidence or a difficult hearing. If the child cannot participate effectively despite proposed adjustments, raise that problem with the court and seek the necessary assessment, directions or adjournment before carrying on. A cosmetic change to courtroom formality is not an answer to an unresolved inability to follow the trial. Sources: Criminal Procedure Rules 2025, SI 2025/909, and current Part 3, Criminal Practice Directions 2023 — consolidated amendments 16 March 2026, S.C. v United Kingdom, application 60958/00, ECtHR, 15 June 2004

Parent or guardian at court. Under CYPA 1933, section 34A, for a defendant under 16 the court must require attendance during all stages unless, and to the extent that, attendance would be unreasonable in the circumstances. For a defendant 16 or 17, the court has power to require it. Where the local authority has parental responsibility, the statutory reference operates accordingly. A suitable alternative supporting adult may be needed if family attendance would be inappropriate. The police-station “appropriate adult” role and the court’s parent/guardian and supporting-adult arrangements must not be conflated. The adult supports the child but cannot replace the solicitor, determine the plea or answer the charge on the child’s behalf. Sources: Judicial College — Child Defendants in the Crown Court, June 2025, Criminal Practice Directions 2023 — consolidated amendments 16 March 2026

Reporting is different from access to the courtroom. CYPA 1933, section 49 automatically restricts public identification of an under-18 person concerned in youth-court proceedings. Importantly, its coverage also includes appeals from the youth court, including case stated, and the specified YRO proceedings and appeals listed in section 49(2). It is therefore wrong to say that every hearing outside a youth-court room needs a new discretionary restriction. The prohibition covers material likely to identify the child, not just the child’s name: a photograph, school or combination of details can identify them. Sources: Children and Young Persons Act 1933, section 49

For a child’s Crown Court trial outside that automatic scheme, seek the appropriate discretionary direction under Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, section 45. Its under-18 protection is not automatic merely because the accused is a child. The ordinary section 49/45 protection lasts only while the person is under 18, subject to the statutory terms and any variation; separate lifetime protection may be available for eligible child victims or witnesses under section 45A, not simply for the child as accused. Reporting restrictions can be lifted only through the applicable power and process. Check the actual order before giving publication advice. Sources: Judicial College — Child Defendants in the Crown Court, June 2025, Children and Young Persons Act 1933, section 49, Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, section 45; section 45A context