Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Juvenile Justice Policy and Protocols Workshop.

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(No Transcript)
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THE COURT SYSTEM IN PNG.

• Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea
• The Supreme Court of PNG is the highest court in
  the national judicial system and is the countrys
  final court of appeal under s.155(2) of the
  Constitution. With respect to criminal
  jurisdiction, the Supreme Court has appellate
  criminal jurisdiction and original constitutional
  jurisdiction.

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THE COURT SYSTEM IN PNG.

• National Court of Justice
• (i) The National Court of Justice of PNG is
  established by s.163(1) of the Constitution. The
  National Court consists of the same judges as sit
  in the Supreme Court. Its appellate and original
  jurisdiction is held before a single judge.
• (ii) The National Court has an unlimited
  criminal jurisdiction.
• (iii) The National Court has an appellate
  jurisdiction hearing appeals from District Courts
  and from some administrative tribunals. Appellate
  jurisdiction is also exercised by a single judge.

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THE COURT SYSTEM IN PNG.

• District Courts.
• (Magisterial Service of Papua New Guinea).
• The National Judicial System of PNG consists of
  the Supreme Court the National Court and such
  other courts as are established under Section 172
  Constitution (establishment of other courts.)

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THE COURT SYSTEM IN PNG.

• District Courts.
• Magisterial Service of Papua New Guinea consists
  of the Chief Magistrate, Magistrates and other
  persons employed in connection with the National
  Judicial System.
• 1.Current strength 104 Magistrates ((150)
• 2.Support staff 500
• 3.70 District Court locations
• 4.Currently administer over 12 jurisdictions in
  any one court location.

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District Court Jurisdictions

1. Criminal/Civil matters
2. Taxation matters
3. Fisheries matters
4. Family matters (6/7)
5. Juvenile Matters
6. Coronial matters
7. Visiting Justice matters
8. Village court matters

1. Land matters
2. Other jurisdiction eg.HIV?Aids etc
3. Leadership Tribunal matters
4. Motor Traffic Matters

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JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM PROCESS IN PNG. AN
AWARENESS PRESENTATION.

• Mr.Iova S. Geita LLB (Hons), Principal
  Magistrate-Juvenile Family Courts Port Moresby.
  Papua New Guinea.

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Juvenile Justice Reform Process(Background
Information)

• Juvenile justice in PNG is guided by national
• and international principles and policies on
• juveniles. They are
• The PNG National Law and Justice Policy and Plan
  of Action Towards Restorative Justice (2000),
• 2. The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for
  the Administration of Juvenile Justice (1985),

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Juvenile Justice Reform Process(Background
Information)

• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of
  The Child (CRC),(1989)
• The United Nations Standard Rules for
  Non-Custodial Measures(The Tokyo Rules 1990,)
• The United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention
  of Juvenile Delinquency.
• (The Riyadh Guidelines 1990)

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WHO IS A JUVENILE?

• PNG STANDARD.
• Juvenile means a person
• aged not less than 7 years
• and less than 18 years.
• (s.2 JCA 1991)
• PNG Total Population
• 5,190,786.
• Juvenile population
• 1,175,255.
• (NB Census 2000.)

• UN STANDARD.
• Juvenile means a person
• aged not less than 10-12
• years and less than 18
• years.

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Minimum Ages of Criminal Responsibility.
7 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16 18
Bangladesh Barbados Belize Cyprus Hong Kong India Jordan Lebanon Myanmar Nigeria Sudan Tanzania Thailand Zimbabwe Kenya Iran (girls) Scotland Sri Lanka Ethiopia Australia (most states) Fiji Vanuatu Nepal Nicaragua UK NZ Sierra-Leone Canada Cyprus Jamaica Korea Morocco Philippines Spain Uganda Yemen Algeria Benin Burkina Faso Chad France Madagascar Niger Poland Senegal Togo Tunisia Uzbekistan Belarus Bolivia Bulgaria China Croatia Germany Hungary Italy Japan Libya Mauritius Korea Paraguay Romania Russia Rwanda Ukraine Vietnam Yugoslavia Denmark Egypt Finland Iceland Lao Maldives Norway Peru Sudan Sweden Argentina Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bolivia Chile Cuba El Salvador Indonesia Mongolia Micronesia Poland Portugal Spain Brazil Columbia Costa Rica Ecuador Guatemala Mexico Panama Uruguay
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Juvenile Justice Reform Process(Background
Information)

• The PNG National Law and Justice Policy and
• Plan of Action Towards Restorative Justice
• (2000),
• Policy 4.2. Strengthening The Juvenile Justice
  System
• the formulation and implementation of
  appropriate youth policies which should go
  hand-in-hand with the development of juvenile
  justice initiatives.

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Juvenile Justice Reform Process

• The United Nations Convention on the Rights
• of The Child (CRC),(1989)
• Article 40.3.
• States Parties (PNG) shall seek to promote the
• establishment of laws, procedures, authorities
  and
• institutions specifically applicable to children
  alleged as,
• accused of, or recognized as having infringed the
  penal
• law

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Juvenile Justice Reform Process.Overview of the
JJ Program.

• JJ program is a reform program designed to
  reengineer how the justice sector meets the
  challenge of juvenile offending.
• Its medium term goal (3-5 yrs) is the creation of
  a comprehensive JJ system, based on restorative
  justice, Melanesian tradition and contemporary JJ
  practice.

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Juvenile Justice Reform Process.Overview of the
JJ Program.

• Our immediate goal is to reduce by 2004 the
  number of juveniles deprived of their liberty.
• The reform process is a major undertaking for the
  justice sector and will make significant changes
  to the way children and young people are treated
  when they come into contact with the law.

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Coordination and Partnerships

• The task of delivering this goal rests with the
  Juvenile Justice Working Group (JJWG), an
  interagency of key government and community
  agencies.
• JJWG is chaired by the Department of Justice
  Attorney General which has lead agency
  responsibilities for Juvenile Justice.NB I am
  currently Chairman of the Committee)

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Program vision and immediate and sustainable goal.

• The vision for the JJ program aims to capture the
  key aspects of the reform process.
• The vision is
• towards a comprehensive JJ system for PNG,
• based on restorative justice, Melanesian
  tradition and contemporary juvenile
  justice practice

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Juvenile Justice Program Objectives.

1. Improve awareness of and respect for the rights
   of juveniles who come into conflict with the law.
2. Promote alternatives to the formal justice system
   through the introduction of diversion programs
   restorative justice.
3. Reduce the number of juveniles deprived of their
   liberty, both pre-and post arrest.

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Progressive Implementation

• The introduction of change requires significant
  adjustments to the way people have previously
  performed their roles and introduces new programs.

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Progressive Implementation

• It requires careful preparation and
  implementation, and has resource implication.
  Training, work distribution, job design or
  redesign,legislative awareness and rewriting
  procedures are being undertaken by all affected
  agencies.
• Due to the size and complexity of the changes
  required the reforms will be implemented
  progressively commencing in NCD followed by Lae,
  Kundiawa Rabaul, Wewak, Mt. Hagen and Goroka.

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Summary of Key Achievements

• On 30 January 2003, the Juvenile Courts Act 1991
  (JCA), was fully gazetted/proclaimed.
• On 26 May 2003, the first Juvenile Court in PNG
  opened in Port Moresby and was officially
  launched on 11 June 2003.
• In August 2003, the Papua New Guinea Juvenile
  Justice Training of Trainers Manual was released.
  
• On 5 April 2004, the Juvenile Court Protocol for
  Magistrates was released by The Chief Magistrate.
  

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Summary of Key Achievements cont

• Port Moresby Juvenile Court is piloting the
  diversion program.
• The goal is to refer 70 of juveniles who appear
  before the court to community based mediation.
• The program model and guidelines were with
  extensive input from ngos, church groups,
  community and government agencies.

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Summary of Key Achievements cont

• On 28 February 2005, the Police Juvenile Justice
  Policy and Protocols, was signed into effect by
  the Police Commissioner.
• On 26 May 2005, the first Juvenile Reception
  Centre was launched in Port Moresby.
• NB The Court will have overall responsibility of
  monitoring how juveniles are treated by
  different sectors of the justice system.

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Summary of Key Achievements cont

• National Juvenile Justice Policy.
• (Final stages.. printing/publishing
• Minimum Standards for Juvenile Institutions.
• (Final stages..printing/publishing)
• Juvenile Justice Act. (Draft 6)
• (Final stages..certification/promulgation.).

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Summary of Key Achievements. Gazetted Juvenile
Courts.

• Juvenile Court of Port Moresby 11th June 2003.
• Juvenile Court of Lae 25th March 2004.
• Juvenile Court of Kundiawa 21st September 2004.
• Juvenile Court of Mt. Hagen- 24th July 2005.
• Juvenile Court of Kokopo 11th August 2005.

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Amendments to the Juvenile Courts Act
Legislation??.

• Juvenile Courts Act 1991.
• Some sections were passed.
• After almost 12 years all the
• sections were passed by
• Parliament on
• 30 January 2003.

• Juvenile Justice Act 2005.
• The first drafting workshop -
• Port Moresby - 14 March 2005.
• Drafts 1 2 received- 9 May 2005
• Consultations now in progress
• Lae Momase/Highlands 26-28 July
• 2005.
• Kokopo Islands 8-18 August 2005.
• Magistrates only 27-29 Sept 2005
• Lae. M.P.

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Juvenile Justice Reform Process

• THANK YOU
• EM TASOL
• For further information contact Mrs. Kanasa or me
  on Tel [phone] Fac 3216241
• OR
• The Director, Community Based Corrections (CBC),
  Attorney Generals Department, Port Moresby.
  Tel[phone] Fac325 9773.