In what kinds of cases, and on what matters, may the court hand a task to the investigation officer under the Juvenile Act?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
The practice file should hold the court's commission paper naming the investigation officer and the matters referred, the report the investigation officer later returns, and the papers showing that the case is a criminal case concerning a juvenile, since the provision's scope turns on that status.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision at its word: the court may commission the investigation officer to investigate matters that are necessary in a criminal case concerning a juvenile, so the actor is the court, the recipient is the investigation officer, the subject matter is limited to what is necessary in such a case, and the power is permissive rather than a duty.
Another reading stresses what the provision does not reach: it says nothing about who may ask the court to make a commission, nothing about objections from the juvenile or the other side, and nothing about criminal cases that do not concern a juvenile, so the file has to show which of these the provision has settled and which it leaves open.
Your judgment
When the court must judge whether a matter is necessary enough to refer to the investigation officer, what in the file could show what moved that judgment?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to require a commission on a party's application or to specify what the investigation officer must examine, or if a court decision defines the weight of an investigation officer's report in such a case.