The Executive Director of the National Integrity Action, Professor Trevor Munroe is highly critical of the action taken by local courts against children. He says quite often children are being arrested and jailed for crimes they did not commit. There are reports of children being thrown behind bars by local judges, due to what has been deemed as uncontrollable behaviour.These children aren’t believed to be criminals but are placed in correctional facilities – a practice which the national integrity action is against.
“I ask that you agree with me that this is absolutely unacceptable and must be rectified in short order,” Professor Munroe notes.
Munroe points to a recent newspaper article on the issue, citing that the previous administration had promised to amend a section of the child care and protection act which allows judges to commit the children to correctional facilities. He is now appealing to the ministry of justice to provide a timeline for this to be done.
“Children have no place in our jail. I know Minister is one who delivers on his pleasures and commitment and ask him to give us a timeline on when this will be done,” he says.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck made a commitment to examine the issue. According to him, there must be greater focus on deterring children from wrongdoing.
They were speaking at a Justices of the Peace training session at the Police College of Jamaica in Twickenham Park, St Catherine
