History

The children’s hearings were set up following recommendations by the Kilbrandon Committee in 1964.  The Committee found that children appearing before the juvenile courts for whatever reason had common needs and concluded a different setting from the courts was needed to consider the children’s needs and future wellbeing. So decisions on what was best for the child were to be the responsibility of a new and unique kind of hearing - the children’s hearing.

Reasons for referral

The reasons a child may be brought before a children’s hearing are set out in the more recent Children’s (Scotland) Act 1995. These include the child who is:

• beyond the control of parents or other relevant persons   
• exposed to moral danger
• likely to suffer serious impairment to health or development through lack of parental care   
• the victim of an offence, including physical injury or sexual abuse   
• failing to attend school   
• indulging in solvent abuse   
• misusing alcohol or drugs   
• has committed an offence

The Hearing

The children’s hearing itself is a lay tribunal of three children’s panel members - at least one male and one female member - charged with making decisions on the needs of the children. The hearing meets in an informal setting with the panel members, the child, parents, social worker, Reporter to the Children’s Panel and perhaps a friend of the family, usually all sitting round a table. The proceedings are held in private, although the press have a right to attend but cannot in any article disclose the identity of the child.

Children under 16 are considered for prosecution in court only where there are allegations of serious offences such as murder, assault to the danger of life or who are involved in incidents where disqualification from driving is possible. These cases too can be referred to the children’s hearing by the Procurator Fiscal or the court.

The hearing’s task is to decide on the measures of care and supervision required in the best interests of the child. Panel members receive a report on the child and his/her background from the Council’s Social Work Services and, where appropriate, a report from the child’s school.  Additional reports from doctors, psychologists or psychiatrists are sometimes requested. Parents and children over the age of 12 receive copies of these reports. The children’s hearing provides a full opportunity to discuss the future needs of the child with the parents, child, social worker and sometimes the child’s teacher.

At the end of the hearing which can last up to an hour, the three children’s panel members have to come to a decision on what is best for the child.  This decision is taken openly in front of the child and parents.

If the hearing decides that compulsory measures of supervision are appropriate, it will impose a supervision requirement which may be reviewed annually until the child reaches 18. In most cases the child will continue to live at home but will be under the supervision of a social worker. Sometimes the panel will decide that the child should live away from home, perhaps with relatives or foster carers or in a children’s home or centre or other residential school run by the Council or a voluntary organisation. 

The Reporter to the Children’s Panel is the key official who arranges the hearings and to whom all children who may need compulsory measures of supervision are first referred.  These referrals can come from a number of sources including the parents, social worker, school and police. In fact any member of the public may refer a child to the Reporter to the Children’s Panel.