The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

NEW judicial procedures that govern the way juveniles would be processed and handled by the justice system going forward should be implemented “soon”, according to Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson.

On Tuesday Mrs Maynard-Gibson, addressing the Court of Appeal’s recent ruling which aims to clarify the way police officers and judges deal with children that come into contact with the justice system, said her office is already at work drafting those new rules.

She indicated that Director of Public Prosecutions Garvin Gaskin has for some time now been working directly on the project.

“We have experts advising us how to improve our system,” she said. “(We’ve) been meeting to discuss this very same issue and we expect in short order, in conjunction with the Ministry of Youth to be making some announcements.”

When pressed by reporters for a firm date for the implementation of the new procedures, Mrs Maynard-Gibson said while any last word on a potential implementation date would have to come from the Department of Public Prosecutions she expects they will be rolled out soon.

Mrs Maynard-Gibson said that her office will invite the public to work along with officials in the coming weeks to improve the system.

She maintained that mechanisms such as the recently announced drug rehab court, are expected to be the crux of this new system.

“It’s just a matter of how we deal with it,” she said. “So those who may be a little off track could be given an opportunity to get back on track. And so they are not dealt with in the traditional criminal justice process like Fox Hill prison and are given a second chance through probation orders and community service orders, these kinds of things and it’s something we’re looking at and I have to say the judgment is prodding us a little bit to make the announcements and to start implementing.”

The Court of Appeal ruling, handed down earlier this month, indicated that children - including those charged with serious crimes - cannot be remanded to prison unless certain conditions are met.

Those conditions include sworn testimony that a child was of so “unruly a character that he could not be safely committed to a juvenile correction centre” or “is so depraved a character that he was not fit to be so detained.”

The ruling was spurred by a case involving a juvenile who, charged with armed robbery and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in November 2014.

Child rights advocates have celebrated the ruling, with many affirming its importance to addressing the welfare of children involved in legal matters.