The National Child Justice Forum ( NCJF) has called on law enforcing agents to ensure children who come in conflict with the law are not detained for a long time.
National Forum Chairperson, Justice Astrida Chulu, said the law enforcing agents should use their discretion and make their own judgment to help children from being detained after they came in conflict with the law.
Justice Chulu said most children did not intentionally come in conflict with the law but that certain circumstances provoked them to commit offences.
She was speaking during the launch of the Chipata Child Justice Forum held at Chipata Golf Club today.
Justice Chulu noted that it was by law that police and the department of Social Welfare should stand in for children whenever they appeared before courts of law so that their cases were dealt with expeditiously.
She said it was important that juvenile s cases were dealt with quickly so that they did not stay long in custody with elderly suspects.
‘ In Lusaka, we try by all means to deal with children’s case quickly because we fear that when they stay in custody for a long time with elderly suspects and hard core criminals, they will learn manners of the elderly suspects and become uncontrollable,’ Justice Chulu said.
She said instead of sending the children to prison, that children should be sent together with their parents to organizations like the Young Women Christian Association (YMCA) for counseling.
Justice Chulu said there was need to provide children with friendly court sessions where they could speak freely on what transpired when they came in conflict with the law unlike taking them to a crowded court room where even prosecutors instill fear in them.
And Chipata District Commissioner, Nicholas Banda, said an improvement in child justice could only be achieved through inter-sectoral cooperation at delivery points.
In a speech read for him by Acting Town Clerk, Noel Muchimba, Mr. Banda said local actors and stakeholders needed to come together on regular basis to share information coordinate activities in order to bring about change in the criminal justice system of children.
He said the aim of the Child Justice Forum was to provide guidance on the transformation of the system by adhering to the standards set out in the Convention on Rights of a Child (CRC).
Mr. Banda said government had already set the temple as demonstrated through various interventions put in place since inception of the program in the year 2000.
‘ To this effect, I want to urge all key players in the program to stand to the challenge in whatever way possible through partnership for effective implementation of it,’ he said.
The District Commissioner said government was committed to the full transformation of the child justice system and called upon the private sector to join hands with government in supporting it.
y not?
Just slap them hard enough to remember and let them go.
What sort of children are these? Some so called “children” are the ring leaders in crime syndicates.
WHERE IS THE SOCIAL SUPPORT SET UP!!!! BUILD REHABS AND STOP BLAMING COPS FOR DOING THEIR JOBS. Mwandi…. keep them in until min of youth sport/community development start working for thier money.