Section 3: Special provision with respect to certain disposals by children's hearings ....

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 · 1974 c.53

3(1)

Where

(a) a ground for the referral of a child's case to a children's hearing under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 is that mentioned in section 52(2)(i) of that Act (commission by the child of an offence) and that ground has either been accepted by the child and, where necessary, by his parent or been established (or deemed established) to the satisfaction of the sheriff under section 68 or 85 of that Act , or

(b) one or more of the section 67 grounds under the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 is that mentioned in section 67(2)(j) of that Act (meaning of "section 67 ground") and that ground has either been accepted by the child and, where necessary, by any person who is a relevant person, or has been established to the satisfaction of the sheriff under section 108 or 114 of that Act,

the acceptance, establishment (or deemed establishment) of that ground shall be treated for the purposes of this Act (but not otherwise) as a conviction, and any disposal of the case thereafter by a children's hearing shall be treated for those purposes as a sentence; and references in this Act to a person's being charged with or prosecuted for an offence shall be construed accordingly.

3(2)

In subsection (1)(b), "relevant person" has the meaning given in section 200 of the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 and includes any individual who is deemed to be a relevant person under section 81(3), or by virtue of an order under section 160(4)(b), of that Act.

3(3)

This section does not apply where the acts or omissions constituting the ground mentioned in subsection (1) occurred when the child was under 12 years of age.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.