Children's Hearings Scotland is an

executive non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of na ...

of the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

, responsible for aspects of the administration of the country's system of children's hearings. It recruits, trains and supports the volunteers who sit on the panels that hear cases brought to it by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. The body was formed in 2013, taking over responsibility from 32

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

panels to form a single national children's panel. As of 2022, it support around 3,000 volunteers who sit on the panels, or support those who do. Although the organisation has a national remit, panels are arranged on a local basis, with 22 Area Support Teams (ASTs) supporting panel members at a local level across Scotland.

Children's Hearings

A children's hearing is part of the

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

and

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

systems in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

; it aims to combine justice and welfare for children and young people. The children's hearings system was initiated by the

Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

(c. 49), and further reinforced by

Children (Scotland) Act 1995 A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

and Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011. It followed a report in April 1964 of a committee set up by the

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

under the chairmanship of

Lord Kilbrandon Charles James Dalrymple Shaw, Baron Kilbrandon, (15 August 1906 – 10 September 1989) was a Scotland, Scottish judge and law lord. Family and education He was the son of James Edward Shaw and his wife Gladys Elizabeth Lester (the daughte ...

, a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

, to examine how young offenders were dealt with. A children's hearing is carried out by three specially trained lay

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a singl ...

members of the ''children's panel'', whose role is to make legal decisions about how to best protect and care for the child or young person in question based on the circumstances and the child or young person’s views.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Public bodies of the Scottish Government Tribunals of the Scottish Government Organisations based in Edinburgh Executive non-departmental public bodies of the Scottish Government Child welfare in Scotland Children's rights in Scotland Scots family law Social care in Scotland