Criminal Justice Act 2003: Guidance for Youth Offending Teams

Source: (2005) London: Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. Downloaded 29 April 2005.

From 4 April 2005, key aspects of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (the Act) will
come into effect. The majority of the changes that it introduces will apply to adult
offenders only. These include the introduction of a new community sentencing
framework that removes the current range of adult community sentences, and replaces
them with one generic Adult Community Order (ACO), alongside changes to existing
adult custodial and suspended sentences. The Act also contains some key implications
for young people who offend, the detail of which is covered in this guidance.
This guidance should be read in conjunction with the Home Office Juvenile Offenders
Unit briefing (to be issued by the Home Office shortly), which will provide an overview
of the legislation itself. Despite initial fears to the contrary, all existing youth justice orders (now to be known
as ‘youth community orders’ under the Act) will continue to be available to all young
offenders, including 16 to 17-year-olds. This means that the Curfew Order, Exclusion
Order (currently being piloted for juveniles in one area only), Attendance Centre Order,
Action Plan Order and Supervision Order will remain community sentencing options for
all young people who offend.
Alongside this, the existing adult community sentences that currently apply to 16 to
17-year-olds – the Community Punishment Order (CPO), the Community Rehabilitation
Order (CRO), the Community Punishment and Rehabilitation Order (CPRO) and the
Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO) – while no longer available to adults under
the Act – will continue to be available to 16 to 17-year-olds until at least April 2007.
The detail of this is discussed below.
The Act also introduces two new custodial sentences, available for adults and young
offenders – the Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection and the Extended
Sentence. The detail and implications of these new custodial sentences are also
outlined in this document. (excerpt)