Changes being made in juvenile justice system

Frederick Stephenson, Minister of National Mobilization, Social Development, Family, Persons with Disability and Youth, has said that the move to reform the juvenile justice system in St Vincent and the Grenadines,{{more}} is evidence of his government’s thrust for the development of, and to secure the best lives for the nation’s youth.

Stephenson, speaking at the Methodist Church Hall in Kingstown last week, at the opening ceremony to mark the launch of consultations, said that his administration is determined to counteract the social vulnerabilities which put young people at risk for criminal behavior, and vowed to continue to strengthen its social action, response to the breakdown in the family and societal values in general.

“The government wishes to reiterate its commitment, to ensure the transformation of the juvenile justice system.

“The political will to modernize the system in a way which recognizes the importance of young people is given the highest priority,” Stephenson said.

“In view of the importance of this project, the government is committed to ensuring that this transformation of the juvenile justice system [will] become a wholesale reality; there is no doubt that this project has the capacity to profoundly impact the lives of the people in St Vincent and the Grenadines and to reframe the execution of juvenile justice in ways which will ensure future gains,” he added.

Stephenson said that a reformed juvenile justice system will give young Vincentians an opportunity to increase their life chances, and give them an opportunity to transform their lives, and contribute positively to society.

“In this regard, this strategy will focus heavily on the preventative and rehabilitative intervention. This points to the immense importance of early detection and prevention measures.”

St Vincent and the Grenadines received US$1.7 million in the project, which is a collaboration between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Organization of East Caribbean States (OECS).

The minister said that the sum allocated to St Vincent and the Grenadines is the ‘largest chunk’ of US$5.8 million, distributed among Antigua, St Kitts, Dominica, Grenada and St Lucia, for the purpose of juvenile justice reform.

He indicated that the funds would be used for the improvement of the legal and regulatory framework of the juvenile justice system, training and institutional capacity building for the effective administration of juvenile justice, the introduction of modern diversion, detention and rehabilitative mechanisms for the execution of the juvenile justice, and the enhancement of juvenile justice approaches for broad-based involvement of civil society.

“The objectives point to the fact that this government regards children as a primary beneficiary of development, and that indeed committed to the idea of the no child left behind,” he said.

The consultation saw members of the legal fraternity, constabulary, various agencies of the Ministry of National Mobilization and other stakeholders present, to discuss the way forward for the juvenile justice system.