May 19, 2006 · Posted in: General, In the News
Juvenile justice law takes effect today
TODAY the landmark Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 takes effect. Children’s rights advocates are delighted to note that preparations for the law’s implementation are making progress.
“Umuusad naman,” says Ma. Victoria Diaz, convenor of the Juvenile Justice Network-Philippines (JJNP) which has worked for the passage of the law.
Diaz reports that the Council that will oversee the law’s execution finally convened late this morning. Moreover, an inventory of children behind bars or facing criminal charges is underway.
The law, Republic Act 9344, exempts minors below 15 years of age from criminal liability. Those 15 to 18 may only be charged, if they committed the offense, knowing it was a crime.
Children who come in conflict with the law will undertake a “diversion program” that involves their families, communities, and local barangay officials; detention becomes a last resort.
The law was signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on April 28 and published in newspapers 15 days ago.
Already, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has announced the results of its inventory of youthful offenders spending time in rehabilitation centers across the country. The DSWD found some 1,500 children.
The count, however, is far from over.
Diaz says these figures from the DSWD exclude those who are locked up in jails; the number is only for those in rehabilitation centers run by DSWD.
The count likewise covers only those children who are 15 years old and below today, and excludes those who were minors at the time of the commission of the crime. Those children are even more difficult to identify, admits Atty. Roy Valenzuela of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). “The courts will have to work hard to be able to ascertain their ages,” Valenzuela says.
The BJMP is conducting its own count of those children locked up in various detention centers across the country.
In all, says Valenzuela, the last nationwide census as of October 2005 showed there are close to 4,000 minors facing criminal charges.
Both Diaz and Valenzuela stress that identifying the children is only the first step to having them released.
“These children will still have to go through the normal legal process,” says Diaz. “We’re just hoping that, for them, the legal process will be faster because the law says they should not even be facing any charges.”
DSWD secretary Esperanza Cabral was quoted today by the media as saying she expects the cases to be dismissed “in the next few weeks.”
The DSWD will chair the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council that will oversee the implementation of the law. This morning, the Council convened for the first time, with its members discussing details of the structures that will govern the Council.
Click here for a table showing the DSWD’s inventory of youthful offenders under its care.
3 Responses to Juvenile justice law takes effect today
Cecile Impens
May 21st, 2006 at 4:29 am
Something not quite right here:
The law, Republic Act 9344 exempts minors below 15 years of age from criminal liability.
Those 15 to 18 may only be charged, if they committed the offense, knowing it was a crime.
There is something positive in the Juvenile and Justice Welfare Act, BUT, exempting the minors below 15 from answering and punishments to the crimes they committed will not “correct” nor “teach” them to be law abiding and responsible citizens of tomorrow. Take an example of a 15 year old who happened to killed another minor, intended or not, a crime been committed, and by legal standard, the erring person should “pay” for the crime’s committed. I agree that the minor offenders be treated differently: separate prison-cells from adult offenders, that they must receive legal assistance, lesser prison terms thus in accordance with the seriousness of the crime committed. That during imprisonment they should receive further education: technical, vocational, or formal, if possible to be able to find jobs and integration in the society after their release. But exempting these offenders from liabilities will only aggravate the situations since they might think that they have the “immunity and privilege” as minors. Furthermore, this flaw in the Juvenile Law will be used as a sort of an “excuse”.
Idem for the 15 to 18 years old offenders. How ridiculous it is to say that “15 to 18 may only be charged, if they committed the offense, knowing it was a crime”.
Can anyone here just simply imagine an offender telling the court that he/she does not know that a crime been committed? A farce! Again, we are facing another issue of an applied solution that will not solve the real problems for correcting the rebel youths. One way or the other, there is a violation in view, mainly for the “future victims” of these minor offenders!
naykika
May 21st, 2006 at 2:25 pm
8. (1) The purpose of sentencing under section 42 (youth sentences) is to hold a young person accountable for an offence through the imposition of just sanctions that have meaningful consequences for the young person and that promote his or her rehabilitation and reintegration into society, thereby contributing to the long-term protection of the public.
Sentencing principles
(2) A youth justice court that imposes a youth sentence on a young person shall determine the sentence in accordance with the principles set out in section 3 and the following principles:
(a) the sentence must not result in a punishment that is greater than the punishment that would be appropriate for an adult who has been convicted of the same offence committed in similar circumstances;
(b) the sentence must be similar to the sentences imposed in the region on similar young persons found guilty of the same offence committed in similar circumstances;
(c) the sentence must be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the young person for that offence;
(d) all available sanctions other than custody that are reasonable in the circumstances should be considered for all young persons, with particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal young persons; and
(e) subject to paragraph (c), the sentence must
(i) be the least restrictive sentence that is capable of achieving the purpose set out in subsection (1),
(ii) be the one that is most likely to rehabilitate the young person and reintegrate him or her into society, and
(iii) promote a sense of responsibility in the young person, and an acknowledgement of the harm done to victims and the community.
Factors to be considered
(3) In determining a youth sentence, the youth justice court shall take into account
(a) the degree of participation by the young person in the commission of the offence;
(b) the harm done to victims and whether it was intentional or reasonably foreseeable;
(c) any reparation made by the young person to the victim or the community;
(d) the time spent in detention by the young person as a result of the offence;
(e) the previous findings of guilt of the young person; and
(f) any other aggravating and mitigating circumstances related to the young person or the offence that are relevant to the purpose and principles set out in this section.
Committal to custody
39. (1) A youth justice court shall not commit a young person to custody under section 42 (youth sentences) unless
(a) the young person has committed a violent offence;
(b) the young person has failed to comply with non-custodial sentences;
(c) the young person has committed an indictable offence for which an adult would be liable to imprisonment for a term of more than two years and has a history that indicates a pattern of findings of guilt under this Act or the Young Offenders Act, chapter Y-1 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985; or
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Above is a copy and paste of the part of our Juvenle Justice Act regarding the sentencing of a young offender.
I support the Act, but a defective law as the one passed like blanket immunity for children under l5 defeats the purpose and spirit of the law which is to rehabilitate the offenders in the least inconvenient process.
Even in a our systems, which treat children witt utmost deligence and respect, still they can not escape the consequence of their mistakes. Although children seldom held in custody, except for indictible crime (violent crime), they still have to go through the process with all counsel accorded, if only to make them realize what have they done. And if convicted as juvenile, all conviction records and sentences terminate upon reaching adulthood. Still, I hope the Act will alleviate the suffering of our juvenile delinquents, but I suggest fully to have a second look at it and if ammentments and replacements of some provisions necessary as we go along then must be done. thanks..
jr_lad
May 21st, 2006 at 3:54 pm
what i understand, this youthful offenders will be brought to juvenile facilities for rehabilitation and not to be released outright. such should be the case and based on previous statements of authorities, that’s what they are going to do; build more rehab centers to accommodate these juvenile delinquents. but really the first significant step is to get them out from those crowded jails. those kids don’t stand a chance of reforming when mixed with adult criminals. they still have a chance to be rehabilitated and become productive citizens of the country.