163.— The following section is inserted in the Act of 2001 after section 257D:

“Appeal against behaviour order.

257E.— (1) A child against whom a behaviour order has been made may, within 21 days from the date that the order is made, appeal the making of the order to the Circuit Court.

(2) An appellant under subsection (1) shall give notice of the appeal to the superintendent in charge of the Garda Síochána district in which the appellant resides.

(3) Notwithstanding the appeal, the behaviour order shall remain in force unless the court that made the order or the appeal court places a stay on it.

(4) An appeal under this section shall be in the nature of a rehearing of the application under section 257D and, for this purpose, subsections (1), (3) and (4) of that section apply in respect of the matter.

(5) If on appeal under this section, the appeal court makes a behaviour order, the provisions of section 257D(6) to (8) apply in respect of the matter.

(6) Notwithstanding the appeal period described in subsection (1), the Circuit Court may, on application by the child subject to the behaviour order or the child’s parent or guardian, extend the appeal period if satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist which warrant the extension.

(7) The standard of proof in proceedings by this section is that applicable to civil proceedings.

(8) The jurisdiction conferred on the Circuit Court under this section may be exercised as follows:

(a) in respect of section 257D(1), (3) and (4) as those provisions apply to the Circuit Court under subsection (4) of this section, by a judge of the Circuit Court for the time being assigned to the circuit in which the appellant under this section resides at the time the appeal is commenced;

(b) in respect of section 257D(7) as it applies to the Circuit Court under subsection (5) of this section, by a judge of the Circuit Court for the time being assigned to the circuit in which the child subject to the behaviour order resides at the time the application is made;

(c) in respect of subsection (6) of this section, by a judge of the Circuit Court for the time being assigned to the circuit in which the child subject to the behaviour order resides at the time the application is made.”.