The uniqueness of the juvenile justice system

Speech delivered by Chief Justice Dr Shirani A Bandaranayake, at the opening of the Juvenile Court in Jaffna on November 17, 2011.

It is indeed a great pleasure to be amongst you in this enchanting city of Jaffna. I have very pleasant memories of my visits to this city as a child with my family members and it was with a great sense of contentment that I accepted this invitation.

For the Judiciary, as a whole, today marks a very important day as this is the very first Juvenile Court we are opening in the Northern peninsula. It is also to be noted that this is the only such Court in the country, in addition to the Juvenile Court at Battaramulla in Colombo. Today’s event therefore could be regarded as a historic moment for our Judiciary.

No one would disagree with the view expressed by Sophocles that children are the anchors that hold a mother to life.

Unique system

Mothers would, no doubt agree with me, how true this expression is, even in today’s context. We cannot also forget what Sigmund Freud had stated about children; that they are completely egoistic, that they feel their needs intensely and strive ruthlessly to satisfy them. These statements clearly show the value of a child as well as the need to deal with them in a special manner.

This should be the situation with regard to the criminal justice system. Due to some unfortunate and/or unforeseen situation if a child gets involved in a crime, if the country does not have a specialized juvenile justice system, children in conflict with the law would be dealt with in the same manner as the Courts would be dealing with the adults.

However, countries where the juvenile justice system has been adopted, acts differently, as that would develop a unique system of criminal justice which would treat children in a manner appropriate to their age and level of maturity. Such a system would also incorporate institutions and systems designed to achieve this objective.

Independent units

Two other matters also would be important in this regard.

Firstly, a well established juvenile justice scheme would include multiple, inter-connected systems. This would include, in addition to the Courts, the Police, the prosecutors, the lawyers, the social workers, probation officers, the juvenile officers as well as the jails and prisons. Each of these institutions, whilst holding them as independent units, would have to join as a team, having the juvenile’s welfare as their paramount interest and importance.

For the success of this exercise, it is quite understandable that all these independent units would have to actively participate and assist each other independently as well as collectively, having the welfare of the juvenile as the main objective in mind.

Secondly it would be necessary to consider carefully the kind of punishment that should be meted out to a young offender. Although the criminal justice system in many countries are retributive, it would be necessary to consider applying restorative justice for young offenders. This would give the opportunity for the young offender to rehabilitate himself as it diverts the offender away from the formal criminal justice system.

Family reunions

At the same time through a Juvenile Court, it would be possible for the magistrate to consider alternatives to detention and how care, guidance, probation, supervision orders; family reunions for the young offender could be provided.

With the opening of the new Court House for the Juvenile Court in Jaffna, all these could be used for the betterment of our society. If not for the painstaking efforts taken by the Minister of Justice, the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and its other officials this beautiful building would not have been a reality.

I am aware that the construction process was not an easy task for them to carry out. However, amidst many other matters in hand the Ministry of Justice had not only found the finances, but also the time and other assistance to ensure that this building would be ready to be opened before the end of this year for the Juvenile Judge to commence work as early as possible.

For judges and lawyers, I am certain that the Ministry of Justice would make every endeavour to include space for a library at every Court House and provide them with the necessary books and law reports for the judges and the lawyers.

This would no doubt, enhance the quality of the decisions and enrich our judicial process in the country. It would also be necessary to take steps to construct residential facilities for judges and adequate office space for lawyers, which would assist them to carry out their respective functions more efficiently.

New building

Since the Ministry of Justice had carried out more than its fair share, in bringing out this new building, now it is the duty of the Judicial Service Commission to take steps to appoint the Juvenile Judge and his staff. We will take steps early to do so and shall render all the necessary assistance not only to make it a reality, but also a success.

We have taken several measures to give a proper training for our judges, at the time of their recruitment as well on later occasions for specific needs as and when they arise. When training programmes are structured, steps have been taken to include juvenile justice as well, since it is an important area which is necessary to develop and improve.

We Sri Lankans have had hard times and throughout several centuries we have moved forward with several achievements to our credit. At a time when lasting peace is upon us, we must extend our fullest support in improving our systems in order to eradicate our shortcomings. Let me assure you that together with all of you I will leave no stone unturned to fulfill the inspirations for justice of the people of mother Lanka.