Law passed for juveniles to be charged, tried jointly with adults

May 19, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Juveniles will now be charged and tried jointly with adults for indictable matters in the criminal justice system.
This was made possible after the Juvenile Justice Amendment bill 2022 was passed in the National Assembly on Wednesday. Presenting the new bill in Parliament was the Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn.

Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn.

Although opposition Member of Parliaments (MP) particularly Khemraj Ramjattan disagreed with the amendment to charge juveniles-between ages 14 and 18- jointly with adults, the new law was still passed with a majority vote. Benn while presenting the bill to the House explained that one reason for amending section 3B (i) of the principal Juvenile Justice Act, is to reduce the time it takes a judge or magistrate to hear a matter where a juvenile committed a crime with an adult(s).
The old law mandated that the juvenile justice system must be separate from the adult justice system. This meant that a juvenile must not appear before the court together with an adult and if they committed an offence together then two separate charges must be instituted against them.
According to Benn this old law “leads to a significant increase in judicial time and expenses”. “The current criminal justice system often results in witnesses testifying twice and this speaks to the issue of repetition and a lot of time being used with the evidence being presented”, related the Home Affairs Minister.
Benn noted that by reducing the amount of time the court takes to hear such matters, “its work will be more effective, more efficient and more efficacious”.
The minister then went on to highlight that the amended law now “provides for appearances where a juvenile commits or is alleged to have committed an indictable offence with an adult and it cannot be disposed of summarily that they be charged jointly with an adult and also that the charge be heard in one hearing”.
Benn listed some examples of these indictable offences as, “murder, manslaughter, sexual assault, abduction of a person or persons, trafficking of narcotics and the use of a weapon while committing a crime”.
Although the act was amended to allow a joint charge and hearing, Benn pointed out that it can only be employed by a magistrate or judge if they adhere to all of the other rights of juveniles catered for in the Juvenile Justice Act. Some of these rights are keeping their identity discreet and the type of sentencing they receive for a crime they were convicted of.

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