A boy charged with murder was re-arrested while already inside a detention centre because the facility would not use force to make him appear in court.

A children's court judge hit out at the "frustrating" situation after the 16-year-old refused to attend court three times in two weeks.

The youth justice facility did not use force to make him attend in person, a legal requirement needed so he could be ordered to give a DNA sample for a homicide investigation.

"The bare bones of this is that the child is making the call," the judge told the court on Wednesday.

He is one of eight males charged with murder over the deaths of two boys walking home from a basketball match.

Chol Achiek, 12, and Dau Akueng, 15, were allegedly set upon by a group of males at Cobblebank in Melbourne's outer no

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