Call for Children's Magistrate's Court
Sarath Malalasekera
The high percentage of children's cases reported in the Juvenile
Courts, Bambalapitiya and Colombo Magistrate's Courts is an endorsement
of the need for a "Children's Magistrate's Court" to be established in
the Judicial Zone of Colombo, said Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms
Secretary Suhada Gamlath at a conference held recently in Colombo.
The proposed Children's Magistrate's Court is to be financed by the
USAID.
The research findings and observations based on a simultaneous data
collected from the Magistrate's Courts in the Judicial Zone of Colombo
were formally presented to child protection stakeholders at a meeting
held at the Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms recently.
The data collection was carried out by the Ministry in collaboration
with the Judicial Service Commission and Save the Children in Sri Lanka
(SCISL), with financial assistance of USAID. The research was conducted
by Attorney-at-Law/Consultant to SCISL Harshana Nanayakkara.
Among the key findings was that a vast majority of children who came
into contact with the justice system were those "in need of care
protection" (as defined by the Children and Young Persons Ordinance), in
comparison to child offenders.
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