Section 39

Subject to the provisions of this section, no child or young person may be charged with or tried for any offence by a court of summary jurisdiction except a Youth Court.

Where a child or young person is charged with any offence triable only by the General Division of the High Court, he or she must be tried by the General Division of the High Court unless —

Where a charge is made jointly against a child or young person and a person who has attained 16 years of age, the charge must be heard by a court of appropriate jurisdiction other than a Youth Court.

Where, in the course of any proceedings before any court of appropriate jurisdiction other than a Youth Court, it appears that the person to whom the proceedings relate is a child or young person, the court may, despite subsection (1), proceed with the hearing and determination of the proceedings if it thinks fit.

A Youth Court has jurisdiction to try all offences which, but for subsections (1) and (2), would be triable only by a Magistrate’s Court, a District Court or the General Division of the High Court.

A person who has attained 16 years of age on the date of commencement of the hearing of the charge must not be tried for any offence by a Youth Court.

Where in the course of any trial before a Youth Court the child or young person to whom the trial relates attains 16 years of age, nothing in subsection (6) prevents the Youth Court, if it thinks fit, from proceeding with the trial and dealing with the child or young person in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

In this section, “legal representative”, in relation to a child or young person who is charged with an offence, includes any person assisting the child or young person in his or her defence to the charge.[33