Children in the criminal justice system: Video link hearings and child defendants

This webinar looked at the following topics in relation to the implications of video-link hearings on the effective participation of child defendants and how best to manage them:

• The Court Reform Programme:  video-hearings for child defendants pre-Covid-19;
• Impact of video-hearings on the effective participation of child defendants;
• Coronavirus Act 2020: the implications for child defendants in the youth court, magistrates' court and crown court;
• A protocol for video-link hearings with child defendants.

A recording of the webinar can be seen below.

Speakers

Kate Aubrey Johnson, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers (Call: 2001) (Chair)
Kate is a youth justice specialist barrister at Garden Court Chambers with experience as a criminal defence practitioner and public lawyer. 

Kate was formerly Director of the Youth Justice Legal Centre at Just for Kids Law. She helped establish the Youth Justice Legal Centre, a national organisation which provides expert legal advice and guidance on children’s rights in the criminal justice system. In this role she developed and delivered a national training programme for lawyers on youth justice law. Kate is co-author of the leading textbook Youth Justice Law and Practice (LAG, 2019). She is a youth justice expert and is regularly called upon to give lectures and deliver training. She chairs the Ministry of Justice’s Youth Justice Working Group on Quality of Advocacy and she sits on the Justice Working Party on BAME Disproportionality and the Advisory Board for the Centre for Justice Innovation.  Kate is working closely with the Law Society, the Criminal Bar Association and the Inns of Court College of Advocacy to ensure children are represented by lawyers who have undertaken specialist training.

Kate has an extensive knowledge of children’s rights law and also works as an SEN mediator. She is the author of Making Mediation Work For You (LAG, June 2012) and is a member of Garden Court’s Mediation team.

Anya Lewis, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers (Call: 1997)
Anya has experience of representing children and young people particularly when they are charged with serious violence and sexual offences in both the Crown Court and on certificates for counsel in the Youth Court.  She was invited by the Michael Sieff Foundation to contribute to a roundtable seminar on Youth Justice and has spoken on the issue of jury trial access for children at Just For Kids Law Youth Justice Summit 2018. She recently co-drafted COVID-19 Child Protocol in Criminal Cases to call upon the Home Office, National Police Chiefs' Council and Youth Justice Board to issue guidance that children should not be arrested and detained during the Covid-19 lockdown other than in exceptional circumstances. In particular, children should not be arrested for breaching the coronavirus regulations.

Danielle Manson, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers (Call: 2016)
Danielle has a wealth of experience across the general crime spectrum, having represented defendants charged with serious violence, the supply and production of drugs and firearms offences and has already undertaken work beyond her call. She has particular expertise in representing children and young people. 

Prior to commencing pupillage, Danielle worked at law reform charity JUSTICE as their criminal justice policy intern. She is now on JUSTICE’s racial disparity in the youth justice system working party. Danielle is regularly approached by members of the press and asked to comment on issues concerning the criminal justice system. She has appeared on Radio 4’s Law in Action, the BBC Sunday Politics Show and featured in pieces written for the Financial Times and the Times.