Child Act 2001 · Updated to 1 Jul 2023 · Part IV · Courts for Children
16. Presumption as to age
Feedback & supportIf in a charge for an offence triable under this Act—
it is alleged that the person who committed the offence was under or had attained any specified age; and
that person appears to the Court For Children to have been at the date of the commission of the alleged offence under or to have attained the specified age, as the case may be, he shall, for the purposes of this Act, be presumed at that date to have been under or to have attained that age, as the case may be, and any order made therein shall not be invalidated by any subsequent proof that the age has been incorrectly stated.
If the Court For Children is in doubt as to the exact age of the person who is alleged to have committed an offence, the certificate of a medical officer to the effect that, in his opinion, the person has or has not attained a specified age may be given in evidence, and the Court For Children shall declare that person’s age for the purposes of this Act.
Court For Children
“Court For Children” means the Court For Children constituted under section 11;
The age so declared by the Court For Children under subsection (2) shall be deemed to be the true age of that person, unless and until the contrary is proved.