PNG Parliament passes Juvenile Justice Bill

PNG Attorney General & Justice Minister Kua

PNG Parliament has passed the Juvenile Justice Bill that is aimed at giving alternative punishment to children outside of imprisonment.

Attorney General and Justice Minister Kerenga Kua, who introduced the Bill to the House, got an overwhelming 75-0 votes to pass the legislation.

Mr Kua said the proposed amendments to repeal the current Juvenile Courts Act 1991 in its entirety and to replace this with a new regime under the proposed legislation provides a comprehensive juvenile justice system based on the principles of restorative justice, Melanesian tradition and contemporary juvenile justice practices.

He said the purpose of the Bill is to address the special needs of the children coming into conflict with the law thus addressing law and order and maintaining a peaceful society.

"It is aimed at minimising the use of formal court proceedings," Mr Kua said.

"It encourages the involvement of parents, the victims and the community in holding juveniles accountable for their actions and requiring them to do something to repair any harm that they may have caused."

Mr Kua said PNG currently does not have a comprehensive juvenile justice system and in 1991 Parliament passed the Juvenile Courts Act 1991 to address the special needs of children coming into conflict with the law.

He said, however, that the Act has major challenges in the area of juvenile justice reforms inclduing inadequate reflections of concepts and innovations such as diversion, restorative justice and statement of general principles.

He said in 2007, Cabinet approved the introduction of the National juvenile justice policy, the Police juvenile justice policy and protocols and minimum standards for juvenile institutions were also endorsed.

He said the policies and minimum standards have helped clarified roles and responisibilities, reduced confusion, provided guidance and justification for the need to review the Juvenile Courts Act thus resulting in amendments to repeal the Act.

"It corrects deficiencies in the current Act and incorporates articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC) and the United Nations Minimum Standard Rules for the administration of Juvenile Justice and reflects what is contained in the National Juvenile Justice Policy.

He said the Juvenile Justice Bill promotes;

Diversions and mediation, drawn from traditional Melanesian and restorative justice values as an alternative to imprisonment;

Rehabilitation;

Fast tracked police processing of juveniles cases and the reduction of unnecessary pre-trial detention;

The prevention of abuse of juveniles within the criminal justice system;

Increased monitoring of juvenile conditions within Police lock-ups and CIS facilities through regular inspections by Juvenile Court magistrates; and,

Training juvenile police officers and voluntary juvenile court officers.

He said the emphasis of the Bill is centred upon a community based and restorative approach to juvenile offending.

PNG Today / Post Courier