FG moves to improve juvenile justice system

Abubakar Malami

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Thursday said 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

The minister, who stated this in Abuja while inaugurating a 13-member technical committee to review the borstal institutions and remands centres Act 2004, 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.

Speaking through the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Mrs, Beatrice Ejudamen Jedy-Agba, the minister said, his ministry is engaging respective heads of courts to establish specialised courts for speedy and seamless trial of rape and gender-based violence offences in the country.

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.

In his speech, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion and also a former Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Justice Ishaq Bello (Rtd) said the review of the Acts has become necessary to improve the juvenile justice system in the country.

According to Justice Bello, 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 Centers Act 2004, which allows for only the institutionalizations 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 and added that, “Time had come to reform the borstal institutions to achieve the goals for which they were established. For example, effective public interventions in child welfare and protection”, he said and also stressed the for 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.

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