‘Absolutely absurd’

The Jamaican Bar Association (JBA) is strongly objecting to consideration being given by Parliament to amend the Child Care and Protection Act (CCPA) for mandatory minimum sentences to be imposed on children for certain offences.

According to the JBA, judges will be forced to impose those sentences regardless of the circumstances of the case or the individual offender’s background.

The observations were noted in submissions prepared by the Criminal Law Committee of the JBA to be sent to the joint select committee of Parliament considering the bill proposing changes to the CCPA.

‘Makes no sense’

Attorney-at-law Tamika Harris, who chairs the Criminal Law Committee, told The Gleaner yesterday that “the mandatory minimum sentence for children as a deterrent makes no sense”.

Said Harris: “I can hardly imagine that Parliament believes that a potential child offender does his or her research on the law before committing a crime. It is absolutely absurd.”

The committee has pointed out in the submissions that Jamaica is in clear breach of its international obligations, which it ratified in May 1991 at the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The breach, the committee emphasised, was highlighted this year by the United Kingdom Privy Council in the Jamaican case of Tafari Morrison.

The committee noted that it was held by the Privy Council that “Jamaica has taken a deliberate decision not to implement the terms of the UNCRC and that the country did not adopt the requirement that the detention or imprisonment of a child should be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period”.

Said the committee, “Jamaica’s continued failure to adopt the key principles from these existing treaties which it has ratified is not only a breach of international law but is depriving all children in Jamaica of their legitimate expectation that the rights guaranteed under these international agreements will be enforced and implemented in their favour by the Government.

“Giving mandatory minimum sentences ignores the root cause of crime in our society and ignores the cries of society for better crime-fighting initiatives, witness-care programmes, and lack of resources invested into the judiciary and the police force.”

The committee is calling for a comprehensive review of the CCPA and removal of the distinction between children under 14 years from those over 14 years as it will allow for better parity in the treatment and sentencing of children.

Referring to the cat, the committee pointed out that there was evidence that mandatory minimum sentencing increases the incarceration rate and does not serve as a deterrent.

‘The Jamaican Bar Association maintains that judicial discretion is an essential feature of a fair justice system. It ensures individual justice for each case, and mandatory minimum sentences passed by Parliament have no regard for judicial discretion,” the committee emphasised.

The committee, in its numerous reasons and precedents, is urging the joint select committee to remove the mandatory minimum sentences from its legislative policy, which is now under review for implementation.

editorial@gleanerjm.com