What you need to know about the Juvenile Justice Act

Mar 28, 2021 News

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By Renay Sambach

Kaieteur News – In Guyana, there is the Juvenile Justice Act, which outlines how juvenile offenders and other issues related to juveniles must be handled. A juvenile is considered a child under the age of 18. The act consolidates the law in relation to criminal justice for juveniles. The act not only makes provisions for proceedings against juvenile offenders, but also the establishment of facilities for the custody, educational training and rehabilitation for juvenile offenders in order for them to be re-integrated into society.
When handling criminal matters that involve children below the age of 18, there are rules that must be observed.
According to the Juvenile Justice Act, any child under the age of 10 cannot be guilty of any offence.
It should be noted that if any child under the age of 17 is arrested and cannot be brought before a court without delay, they must be released on a recognizance with or without sureties.
However, if the child was not released from custody, the child can be kept in custody. The child must be kept in custody at a facility that was designed to hold juvenile delinquents, until he/she can be brought before a court.
Some reasons why the child can be detained are: if he/she was arrested for murder or other serious crimes, if it’s impracticable to release the child, if the child has an unruly or depraved character or because of the child’s state of mental or physical health. The officer must certify his/her reason for detaining the child and the certificate must be produced when the child is brought before the court.
Additionally, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C., prosecutors and police officers can consider warnings and referrals to avoid juveniles from going to court. However, the DPP must conduct pre-charge screening before a juvenile is charged and placed before the courts.
The DPP must give a written consent to any private individual who wishes to institute charges against a juvenile.

CHILDREN’S COURT
In a previous edition of ‘The Court Journal,’ it was reported that, after the Juvenile Justice Act was passed, Guyana opened the doors of the first Children’s Court on October 31, 2018, in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts compound.
The establishment of the Children’s Court is essential to ensuring that the objectives of the Juvenile Justice Act are achieved and to ensure that a more rehabilitative and restorative system was implemented for juvenile justice.
It should be noted that the law provides children below the age of 18 with free legal advice. It also provides a humane alternative to the tense formal court setting, remands and incarceration for young lawbreakers.
The Children’s Court was designed to assist in helping youths and to prevent them from falling deeper into the life of crime. One of the aims of the court is to divert juveniles from the formal court procedure, which will be an asset when it comes to dealing with delinquents.
The two Magistrates who underwent extensive training to hear matters in the Children’s Courts are Dylon Bess and Annette Singh.
The Children’s Court was in the pipeline since 2004, after the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government tabled its first report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The committee then made a number of recommendations urging that they be implemented as early as possible.
Some of those implementations, include raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 years; and ensuring that those below the age of majority not be tried as adults, but be given adequate special protection.

DETENTION FACILITIES
When a child is brought before the court, if he/she is remanded, that child will not be remanded to prison, but to the Juvenile Holding Centre.
The $37.6M Juvenile Holding Centre which is located at Lot 2 Dennis Street, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, officially opened its doors on April 8, 2011, by the then Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee.
It was decided that juveniles from age 10 and over, but under the age of 17, who have committed any crime, should not be detained in the same manner like adult offenders.
The Juvenile Holding Centre provides custody for children and young persons; awaiting their court appearance, who have been committed by the courts but not escorted to the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) and who have completed the period of their sentence and awaiting rehabilitation and reintegration into their families or the community.
There is also the NOC, which was established as a correctional facility for the young. NOC is located at Onderneeming, Essequibo Coast, Region Two, and houses juveniles who were sanctioned by the court system.

SENTENCING
Some procedures that were put in place to restore and deal with juveniles, who commit offences, can range from apology to compulsory attendance to some vocabulary educational centre; or compensation to the victim in an amount to which the juveniles’ family can afford.
Instead of sentencing a juvenile to imprisonment, it is advised to ensure rehabilitation, eradication and reintegration into society.
Before ordering a custodial sentence, the court must review pre-sentencing reports that must be prepared by the Chief Probation Officer.

REHABILITATION
Under the Juvenile Justice Act, there are laws that provide for juveniles to be rehabilitated so that they could be re-integrated in the society.
Juveniles who are being kept at the Holding Centre or NOC are not only being educated but are also involved in curriculum activities to build and develop their characters.
Recently Kaieteur News reported, “The Ministry of Home Affairs’ Juvenile Justice Department, in collaboration with the University of Guyana (UG), conducted a five-month Academic and Skills Training Programme for Juveniles at the Juvenile Holding Centre.”
It was further reported that, “12 juveniles participated in the programme and were awarded certificates on Friday March 19, 2021. The programme, according to a Ministry of Home Affairs statement, was aimed at supporting the education, rehabilitation and reintegration of juveniles, through a Skills Development Project and Educational Workshop.”

JUVENILE COURT MATTER
The most recent serious matter that involved a juvenile offender is the 16-year-old boy who was remanded to the Juvenile Holding Centre on a murder charge.
It is alleged that the teen on March 11, 2021, in the company of others, shot and killed 10-year-old, Anthony Cort, at Packet Corner, C Field, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, during the course or furtherance of a robbery.
The teen made his first court appearance on Friday March 19, 2021, in the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate, Alisha George. He is expected to make his next court appearance on May 12, 2021.

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