Juvenile court

A juvenile court (or young offender's court) is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgments for crimes that are committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, children and adolescents who commit a crime are treated differently from legal adults that have committed the same crime.

Industrialized countries differ in whether juveniles should be tried as adults for serious crimes or considered separately. Since the 1970s, minors have been tried increasingly as adults in response to "increases in violent juvenile crime." Young offenders may still not be prosecuted as adults. Serious offenses, such as murder or rape, can be prosecuted through adult court in England.^[2] However, as of 2007, no United States data reported any exact numbers of juvenile offenders prosecuted as adults.^[1] In contrast, countries such as Australia and Japan are in the early stages of developing and implementing youth focused justice initiatives as a deferment from adult court.