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makers. There was a desire to be progressive and more "scientific" in
approach and a belief that this would be of benefit for the child and
the wider society. Since that time sentencing of child offenders has
been influenced by the movement between two ends of a
continuum, the need for treatment and the need to make sentences
proportionate to the seriousness of the offence committed.
The Lynn Committee examined the extent of "juvenile delinquency"
in Northern Ireland. It concluded that although there had been a rise
in indictable offences involving children and young people under 16
during the 1930s that the numbers of such offences committed by
young people in Northern Ireland was still relatively small. The
Committee also felt that there were important factors to be taken
into account in looking at the reasons for juvenile offending. These
included lack of parental responsibility, poor housing, lack of
employment and lack of recreational facilities. They also found that
there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate the effects of cinema
and dance halls on delinquency!
The Lynn Report was certainly as radical as the content of 1933
English legislation . The recommendations that showed advancement
in thinking in relation to juvenile offenders included:
• the use of police "private warnings" (cautions) for child petty
offenders;
• the introduction of special qualifications for magistrates sitting in
juvenile court with a resident magistrate always present as
chairman;
• the belief that the jurisdiction and procedure of the juvenile court
should not be similar to an ordinary adult court and the court
should be "empowered to exercise...the widest powers of
guardianship and protection";
• raising the age of criminal responsibility from 7 to 8 years;
• the provision of a special remand home for boys;
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