Page 53 - Magistrates Conference 2019

Youth and Young Age Considerations Cont.

• In Ramoutar, Badree and Hosein v The State, the Court of Appeal said:

o Once the age of majority has been attained, that is, eighteen years, with the attendant conferral
of important adult rights and privileges (such as the capacity to contract and to vote), youth by
itself will not inevitably lead to a reduction in sentence.

o If the age of majority is to be considered as meaningful, representing as it does both notionally
and practically the portal into the world of adult decision-making and overall responsibility, then

any offender of and over that age will have a severely uphill task in persuading a sentencing court
that without more, comparative youth is a mitigating factor.

o If on the evidence, it can be seen that the youth of an offender has rendered him susceptible to
more mature influence, this may be a factor which can, dependent on the context, be taken into
account and it may lead either to a minor reduction or to a more substantial reduction in the
sentence.

o In respect of offenders who have not yet attained the age of majority, the courts may assume a
certain level of immaturity in the absence of any evidence which might suggest otherwise, for

example, where a minor is clearly a “ringleader” and involves others, even adults, in the subject
wrongdoing. In the absence of such evidence, a nominal reduction may be given as a nod to
youth.

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