Oral judgment — application for dismissal — failure to convene family group conference within statutory constraints — Family Group Conference — whether FCG convened — Criminal Procedure Act 2011, s 147 — Children Young Persons and their Families Act — Victims’ Rights Act 2002 . The young person was facing charges of aggravated robbery; an application for dismissal was filed as a family group conference had not been convened within statutory constraints. The court considered what it meant to "convene" a family group conference, including the function of the conference and the underlying purposes and principles of the legislation. The court noted that there was a statutory duty on the youth justice co-ordinator to notify the victim of the family group conference, which had not occurred. The court found that what had occurred was not a family group conference as the victim was not involved at any stage and the function of the family group conference was unattainable. Having found that a family group conference did not occur, the court considered whether leave should be given to withdraw the charges, or whether the charge was a nullity. The court considered factors including the public interest and the victim of the offending in finding that it was appropriate to allow the charge to be withdraw, rather than declared a nullity. The charge was therefore withdrawn by leave. Judgment Date: 2 May 2017. * * * Note: Names have been changed to comply with legal requirements * * *