NCJ Number
80399
Journal
American Journal of Comparative Law Volume: 29 Dated: (Winter 1981) Pages: 139-145
Date Published
1981
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article compares the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts in Italy with the system advanced under the proposed juvenile justice code for Europe.
Abstract
Under both the Italian juvenile system and the proposed juvenile justice code for Europe, the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts is based upon a combination of the defendants' or subjects' age and the assertion that they either have committed a criminal offense or are in need of care, tutelage, or protection. Thus, the courts in each system exercise both criminal and administrative jurisdiction. In Italy, one system of juvenile courts hears both kinds of cases, while under the proposed code specialized divisions of the juvenile court hear either administrative or criminal cases exclusively. This bifurcation is intended to encourage the development of judicial expertise and to safeguard against application of inappropriate principles to particular cases. While both the proposed code and the Italian juvenile system defined jurisdiction largely through the use of age categories, the proposed code allows for flexibility of criminal jurisdiction where adults who are under age 21 exhibit attributes which indicate that the ends of justice would be served better by subjecting them to the juvenile system. The code also allows flexibility in the opposite direction when juvenile defendants are so dangerous that the policies that favor the rehabilitative disposition procedures of juvenile courts give way to weightier considerations of public safety. In contrast, the jurisdictional age boundaries of the Italian system are less flexible, providing for joint trial only when juveniles have been coindicted with an adult. A total of 37 footnotes are given.