12 Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts launched in Guyana
Twelve Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts were on Tuesday launched across Guyana as an alternative way of dealing with young people caught up in drug use.
The courts, which are spread out in various magisterial districts, are specifically aimed at providing a different course of action for juveniles who come into contact with the law and have been found addicted to or abusing illegal substances.
In brief remarks at the opening ceremony at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, Acting Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire said the strategy was necessary.
“The judiciary…considers it necessary to prepare to engage and treat with children or juveniles who come into contact with the law, and who have substance abuse disorders,” she said, adding that it is better to have offenders placed into programmes that can directly address rehabilitation rather than locking them away.
“As in the case of adults, a better response would be to give such children the opportunity to enter into long-term treatment programmes and agree to court supervision. This should especially be the case for children because the best practice is that they should not be institutionalised or severely punished for minor offences,” the Chief Justice added.
Delivering the keynote address, Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, revealed that the judiciary has seen, over the last two to three years, a significant decline in juvenile offences being committed and the number of cases presented before the courts.
She said those reductions, coupled with the new implementation of the treatment programme, will improve the continued decline in juvenile offences across the country.
Cummings-Edwards contended that incarceration has only “compounded” the issues that juveniles face. The programme will allow the court to proffer “compassionate jurisprudence” when dealing with young offenders.
“The important factor garnered, though, from the stats, is that the numbers seem to be dropping…we hope that with the rolling out of the drug treatment court and the services provided, the statistics will paint a brighter picture in terms of our youth’s involvement or conflict with the law,” she stated.
Director of the Juvenile Justice Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Joan Ann Edghill-Stuart, pledged the department’s full support to fulfil the new courts’ objectives.
“Today, the Juvenile Justice Department pledges its commitment to the court's success. We anticipate that participants, upon successful completion of the treatment programme, would gain the necessary tools to rebuild their lives,” she affirmed.
Meanwhile, UNICEF Representative to Guyana and Suriname, Nicholas Pron, shared the organisation’s commitment to working with the relevant stakeholders to better children in Guyana.
“UNICEF will continue to provide support through our fundraising and other efforts. We will seek to ensure that the principle of best interest is made tangible to all children in Guyana,” he said.
The programme will target youths under 18 charged with minor non-criminal offences.
The court will pattern after the already established adult pilot project, which according to information from the Supreme Court, showed that successful participants were significantly less likely to be repeat offenders than those sentenced with traditional forms of punishment.
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