Outcome
1. A successful conference will result in a conference plan. A plan could consist of one or more of the following:-
· An apology to the victim;
· Reparation to the victim or to the community;
· Restitution paid to the victim;
· Supervision by an adult;
· Work or service for the community;
· Participation on activities, e.g. activities designed to deal with offending behaviour, or to offer training or education, or to deal with problems such as drugs or alcohol;
· Restrictions on conduct or whereabouts, e.g. curfews;
· Treatment for mental problems or drug/alcohol dependency.
Clearly each plan should be tailored to the individual circumstances of the offence and the young person, and it should be consistent with the overall aims of the scheme which include reparation, rehabilitation and the repairing of relationships.
2. Where the conference is diversionary, the plan would be referred to the prosecutor who must decide whether to accept it. Where the plan is accepted and is then complied with, the matter is at an end. Although, the fact that a young person has been the subject of a youth conference plan may be cited in criminal proceedings.
3. If the plan is not complied with, the prosecutor may take the matter to court. There will be an element of discretion for non-compliance because there is no intention that minor or unavoidable breaches should be taken to court. In this regard it should be noted that there will be provision to allow small modifications of a plan to be made with agreement (particularly that of the young person), for example, where actions could not be carried out because of ill-health. The plan may also contain sanctions within itself, for example, the breach of a curfew might, as part of the plan, result in an extension of the curfew.
4. If the plan returned to the prosecutor is not acceptable, court proceedings will be instituted. Court proceedings can also be required in circumstances where the conference had gone well but where there was a consensus that the case required a sanction only available in court, for example, a community service order or even custody. Where this is the case, the conference may include in its report its recommendation on how the court should act.
5. Where the conference has been ordered by the court, the conference may recommend that the young person be subject to a youth conference plan, that the court exercise its usual powers or that the conference plan be linked to a period in custody. For its part, the court is not obliged to accept the recommendations of a conference which it has ordered (nor indeed, those of a diversionary conference that has recommended prosecution followed by specific court-ordered sanctions). It will have the power, in effect, to vary the conference plan with agreement or indeed, to reject the plan if it considers there is good reason.
6. If the court order arising from a youth conference is breached, the court may either deal with the breach or decide to re-sentence for the original offence.
