OpenLegislation

Section 215 Power to make youth diversion ordersI1

United Kingdom Not yet in force

(1)

A chief officer of police may apply to an appropriate court for an order under this section (a “youth diversion order”) in respect of a person (“the respondent”) who—

(a)

in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, is aged 10 or over but is under the age of 22;

(b)

in Scotland, is aged 12 or over but is under the age of 22.

(2)

On an application the court may make a youth diversion order in respect of the respondent if—

(a)

the court is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that—

(i)

the respondent has committed a terrorism offence,

(ii)

the respondent has committed a relevant offence with a terrorist connection, or

(iii)

the respondent has engaged in conduct likely to facilitate the commission (by the respondent or anyone else) of a terrorism offence, and

(b)

the court considers it necessary to make the order for the purpose of protecting members of the public from a risk of terrorism or other serious harm (see section 216).

(3)

In this section—

  • “appropriate court” means—

    1. (a)

      in England and Wales or Northern Ireland—

      1. (i)

        a youth court, if the respondent is under the age of 18 when the application is made;

      2. (ii)

        a magistrates’ court in any other case;

    2. (b)

      in Scotland, a sheriff court;

  • “relevant offence” means an offence which—

    1. (a)

      was committed on or after 29 June 2021,

    2. (b)

      is punishable on indictment with imprisonment for more than 2 years, and

    3. (c)

      is not specified in—

      1. (i)

        Schedule 1A to the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, or

      2. (ii)

        Schedule A1 to the Sentencing Code;

  • “terrorism offence” means—

    1. (a)

      an offence listed in section 41(1) of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008,

    2. (b)

      an attempt or conspiracy to commit an offence within paragraph (a),

    3. (c)

      an offence under Part 2 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 (England and Wales and Northern Ireland: encouraging or assisting crime) in relation to an offence within paragraph (a),

    4. (d)

      an offence under the law of Scotland of inciting the commission of an offence within paragraph (a), or

    5. (e)

      aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence within paragraph (a).

(4)

For the purposes of subsection (2)(a)(ii), a relevant offence has a terrorist connection if the offence—

(a)

is, or takes place in the course of, an act of terrorism, or

(b)

is committed for the purposes of terrorism.

(5)

In this Chapter—

  • “chief officer of police” means—

    1. (a)

      in England and Wales, the chief officer of police of a police force in England and Wales;

    2. (b)

      in Scotland, the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland;

    3. (c)

      in Northern Ireland, the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland;

  • “police area” means—

    1. (a)

      in relation to England and Wales, a police area as defined by section 101(1) of the Police Act 1996,

    2. (b)

      Scotland, or

    3. (c)

      Northern Ireland;

  • “the public” means the public in any part of the world;

  • “the respondent” has the same meaning as in subsection (1);

  • “terrorism” has the meaning given by section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000;

  • “youth diversion order” has the same meaning as in subsection (1).

Annotations

Commencement

I1

S. 215 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 255(1)