From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has disclosed plans to establish specialised courts for speedy and seamless trial of rape and gender-based violence offences in the country.
Already, the Ministry of Justice is engaging respective heads of court for the establishment of the specialised courts.
Malami made the disclosure through the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Mrs Beatrice Ejudamen Jedy-Agba, at the inauguration of a 13-member technical committee to review the borstal institutions and remand centres Act 2004.
The AGF stated that for sustainable reformation of the country’s juvenile justice system, the borstal institute legal framework should be reviewed to bring it up to conformity with the Child’s Right Act, 2003, Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and the Correctional Services Act, 2019.
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He further disclosed that his ministry is in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and other relevant stakeholders to review and prepare a draft bill of the borstal institutions and remand centre Acts 2004.
While expressing the hope that the specialised courts will fast-track such cases and result in justice for child victims, the Chief Law Officer of the Federation said a growing feature of the crime and criminal activities in the country is the involvement of juveniles in criminal and deviant activities, such as theft, burglary, alcoholism, drug abuse and violence.
The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion and a former Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Justice Ishaq Bello (retd), said the review of the Acts has become necessary to improve the juvenile justice system in the country.
Justice Bello said assessment of his committee of the three borstal institutions in the country revealed the shortfalls of the present law, adding that as against the provisions of the Borstal Institutions and Remand Centres Act 2004, which allows for only the institutionalisation of offenders between the ages 16-21, most children in the borstals are either below or above the age bracket.
He said children are not classified on the basis of their age, physical and mental health, length of stay, degree of delinquency and character, adding that “factors like a sequence of the delinquency, possibilities of functioning as a contamination risk and requirements of custody, educational background and vocational training needs of children are not taken into consideration.”
Currently, he said there are only three borstal institutions in the country, while the Act provided for the establishment of borstals in each state of the federation. He also advocated the provision of the special juvenile court to address juvenile cases in the country.
The terms of reference of the technical committee include bringing the Act in conformity with the Child Rights Act, 2003, ACJA, 2015 and Correctional Services Act, 2019, producing a draft bill which will repeal the existing Act, bring the Act in conformity with international best practices and encourage a regime that promotes effective rehabilitation of the students, through which the juveniles will be given progressive trust demanding personal decisions, responsibility and self-control.
Others are to place emphasis on regular educational and vocational training regimen with demanding physical training content, to ensure that borstal institutions comply with acceptable international and human rights standards, and provide a controlled and standardised way of admitting children into the institutions, among others.