Dominicans being sensitized on OECS Model Bills

Augustus

The Status of Children Bill, Children Justice Bill and Children (Care and Adoption) Bill will be the main focus at an ongoing series of sensitization sessions in Dominica.

The public sensitization that has its origins from since around the year 2002, when the member states of the OECS,  decided that there was need to reform the family law and domestic violence laws in the OECS. At that time, through the OECS Commission, with the assistance of funding agencies, several local consultations were held. Those consultations facilitated discussions on what changes needed to be made to the laws.

Technical Specialist with the Juvenile Justice Reform Project Phase 2, Magistrate, Gloria Septra Augustus, told Dominica News Online (DNO) during an interview on Thursday that a number of regional meetings were then held where the information from all the local consultations were put together in preparation for the National Consultation in the member-states. She said One of the deliverables under the project centered around six Bills.

The Status of Children Bill, Augustus explained, has to do with the removal of all legal disabilities to make it possible for children born in or out of wedlock, to have the same rights.

“So parents will have equal rights to their children, particularly where you have a child being born out of wedlock, where presently under the common law, the mother is the one who has custody and the mother is the one who can make the most important decisions for the child.”

According to Augustus, the Status of Children Bill equalizes that and grants equal rights to both mother and father  to make decisions for their child. She said this is in keeping with the Convention of the Rights of The Child that was signed and which says that children are entitled to love and affection from both parents.

“No matter if they are separated, the parents should participate in their lives; the parents should take care of them,” Augustus stressed.

There’s also the Child Justice Bill, which Augustus says will replace what is currently referred to as the Children and Young People Act or in some cases, the Juvenile Justice Act, “but we will no longer be using the word juvenile, what we have is children or child in conflict with the law.”

The OECS official pointed out that in a number of countries, children who commit crimes and those who are abused and neglected and in need of care and protection were under one law. However, in the reform, they are considered to be sufficiently important that they need to be in different laws, but the two laws are linked.

“So, there is the Children Care and Adoption. So what has happened before is adoption was a separate one, we’ve brought adoption with care and protection and then we have Child Justice that deals with those who are in conflict with the law,” she noted.

She also mentioned the Domestic Violence Bill and the Maintenance Bill but said that for the public sensitization, the concentration is mainly on the Status of Children Bill, the Child Justice Bill and the Children Care and Adoption Bill.

Augustus said some of the countries have gone ahead and enacted some of those laws including Grenada, Antigua & Barbuda and St Kitts & Nevis.

“St Vincent has passed a few of them, but they haven’t passed the Child Justice as yet but just recently they went through to Parliament. It’s not completed as yet and St Lucia just had their first reading in Parliament. St Vincent also has several consultations again also, so that leaves Dominica.”

Augustus believes that Dominica has to move forward in this regard to keep up with the change that’s happening around us.

“ We are reforming and changing all types of things and we need to reform and change the system that deals with the family and deals with young people, because this is going to give people a second chance, it is going to deal with them from a different point,” she remarked. “And this is important for a just and fair system and we are saying let us see how we can change particularly the laws, but the laws alone will not work. We need the laws and other things.”

Martin Anthony

Meantime, Consultant in the Ministry of Ecclesiastical, Family and Gender Affairs, Martin Anthony told DNO that this public sensitization drive on the OECS model Bills is in keeping with a directive from the authorities.

He said the Bills have been sent to government and everything is being worked through the Attorney General Chambers, and also incorporating other ministries like the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs.

He said the Bills have gone through different stages, consultations both regional and local and having been reviewed “we feel that they are Cabinet ready.”

A public sensitization session will be held from six o’clock this evening at the PSU building on Valley Road.

The Juvenile Justice Reform Project (JJRP) II is an initiative which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), to support juvenile justice reform in the six independent territories in the Eastern Caribbean, namely: Antigua and Barbuda, The Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  The project is one of three components of the broader USAID Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Project which aims to increase the institutional and technical capacity of regional bodies, selected national government systems and community stakeholders to reduce risk factors that drive youth crime, violence and victimization.

The second phase of the project will seek to build on earlier reforms with the desired impact of having youth in conflict with the law rehabilitated and reintegrated into society and by reducing recidivism (repeated offences).

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8 Comments

  1. ATKINSON
    August 12, 2018

    Well said “Uncle” these people are living in a fantasy island, a state of denial, maybe she can start by cleaning up the court house

  2. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    August 11, 2018

    “Meantime, Consultant in the Ministry of Ecclesiastical, Family and Gender Affairs, Martin Anthony told DNO that this public sensitization drive on the OECS model Bills is in keeping with a directive from the authorities. ”

    Guy find a job, and stop playing with God!

    Ecclesiastical have everything to do with God, you all brings it into politics, that is one of the reasons Maria did what it did to Dominica; God is not mocked!

    Food for taught!

  3. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    August 11, 2018

    Admin: Why is that whenever, I try to give someone my telephone numbers, and E-mail address on your site it rejects it as a spam?

    That need to be corrected!

    ADMIN: While we would advise caution to anyone wishing to publish their personal contact information on the internet, we are not aware of any of your comments going into spam, at least not recently.

  4. Badbaje
    August 11, 2018

    Magistrate, Gloria Septra Augustus, continue your fight for the children and youth. The issues mentioned are all very important, and some of the laws and rules mentioned have already been in place in other places for so long, it really does make one wonder why are are so far behind and why this is not viewed as important enough for the powers that are in place to have done more about it already. We need to hear about these things daily and repeatedly in the streets and homes of the communities. Please don’t be reluctant to reach out wherever you and your workers may need assistance of any kind. Thanks for your hard work.

  5. Badbaje
    August 11, 2018

    Uncle I beg to differ. I do agree with you that food, hunger and shelter are of the utmost importance at this time, for without those things there is no life. However the topics being discussed here are very important, or just as important. Food, hunger and shelter is our immediate need to survival at this time, but children are our future. I only hope this is not another distraction to get the minds of people off today”s issues, only to be forgotten in a few weeks or months when things have quieted down, and life is back to “normal”

    • Uncle
      August 11, 2018

      BadbajeI agree that these goals are important but we are waisting our time and have a cats chance in hell of achieving them if the basic needs of ou people are not met first. I know it is hard but that must be our first priority. Thank you.

  6. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    August 10, 2018

    People like you are jumping out under every rock, every hole taking crap to detract from the mess that Dominica is in right now.

    Jobs, money, and food are much more important than the crap you are talking; talk about a way of attracting investors into the country, and fixing the infrastructure to enable them to stay in the country; in reality bring Dominica up to the standards with the rest of the Caribbean!

    That should be the focus, and not the garbage you are talking, we do not want any distraction from you, and  the misery that our nation people are experiencing! 

  7. Uncle
    August 10, 2018

    Gloria listen, right now that is a luxury you hear. Right now sensitizing our people to gong hungry is far more important. At the same time you can sensitize them to their rights under the constitution. That makes more sense to me.

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