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Executive summary and Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Introduction
Country Context 1.0
Research Context 2.0
Methodology 2.1
Problems Experienced 2.2
Literature Review 3.0
Scope of Literature Review 3.1
Sources of Information 3.2
Definition of Terms 3.3
The Term - Juvenile 3.3.1
Age of Criminal Responsibility 3.3.2
Instruments/Rules Concerning Child Offenders 3.3.3
Types of Offences and Reasons for Arrest 3.3.4 13
Children in Need of Care and Protection 3.3.5
Arrest Procedure and Handling by Police 3.3.6
Handling of Juveniles by Local Councils 3.3.7
Handling by Courts 3.3.8
Sentencing and Treatment of Juveniles 3.3.9
What Works 3.3.10
References
Findings 4.0
Nature of Offences 4.1
Children on Remand 4.2
Arrest Procedures for Children 4.3
First Response 4.4
Length of Time from Arrest to Sentencing 4.5
Treatment of Child Offenders 4.6
Children's Views on their Treatment 4.7
Questioning of Child Offenders 4.8
Remand Facilities 4.9
Services for Children on Remand 4.10
Pre and Post-Release 44.11
Structural Arrangements 5.0
Staffing 5.1
Court Structures and Personnel 5.2
Role of NGO's 5.3
Training and Reference Materials 5.4
Attitudinal/Experiential Issues 6.0
Attitudes Towards Child Offenders 6.1
Attitude to Punishment 6.2
Children's Attitudes towards Offences and Punishment 6.3
Attitude of Other Children not in Conflict with the Law 6.4
Knowledge about the Children Statute 7.0
Impediments to the Administration of Juvenile Justice 8.0
Inadequate Financing 8.1
Social/Cultural Problems 8.2
Shortage of Personnel 8.3
Conclusions 9.0
Recommendations 10.0
Charts and Graphs
Nature of Offences Tried in Court, 1996
Disposal of Cases Heard in Court, 1996
Period Spent on Remand, 1996
Length of Trial Process by District
NGO's and their activities in Districts
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In the light of the new legislation for children in Uganda and the
lack of any comprehensive and verifiable understanding of the
situation for children in conflict with the law, Save the Children
Fund (UK) and the Department of Child Care and Protection
identified the need for specific action to be taken to identify the
priorities for implementation of the juvenile justice reforms
proposed in new legislation.
The research study outlined in this report highlighted a number of
priority issues for action by Central and Local Government and
the various sectors responsible for the delivery of appropriate
and humane responses and provisions for children in conflict with
the law and within the judicial systems.
The majority of children, who enter the Judicial systems, have
been charged with minor offences which are, in the main, related
to the environmental context in which they live. Offences related
to minor theft, idle and disorderly, stealing from cars or houses,
and minor assault are often the product of extreme poverty, poor
or non-existent care and education and lack of understanding of
the law.
The existing system of j justice condemns these children to
extensive periods of detention (often 1 year or more) in police
cells, in prisons with adults or in one of the few remand facilities.
Conditions for children on remand breach all international
standards on human and children's rights and such children, even
when proved innocent of charges, have little hope in returning to
families and communities without being traumatised and
stigmatised by the experience.
For the minority of children, the more serious charges include
those of defilement, murder, and treason. Children charged with
such capital offences spend proportionately longer periods in
remand custody. In addition to the already lengthy trial process,
the need for Police investigations, the attendance of witnesses
and the preparation of prosecution and defence cases and the
availability of time in the higher courts further delays the hearing
of these juvenile cases.
The most predominant major offence with which juveniles are
charged is defilement, however, this offence needs to be
explored further in relation to the nature and circumstance of the
actual offence for which a child is being charged. Within the
current law there is no differentiation between consenting sexual
activity between two adolescents and forced intercourse with a
child, be that by a juvenile or an adult. In addition, juveniles are
often charged with defilement as a response to unresolved
disputes between neighbours or as a slanderous attack on the
individual or as a mechanism to extort material gain as a form of
restitution.
Whilst sexual abuse of a child has to be recognised as a serious
offence and dealt with accordingly, the present incarceration of
many juveniles on this charge, without substantiating evidence or
reliable proof, does nothing to serve either the victim, her family
or the true purpose of justice
The research found that there were instances where children
were illtreated, beaten and abused during arrest and when in
detention. Such abuse occurred at the hands of community
members, Local Council members, the Police, Prison Officers and
other inmates in places of detention
The lack of procedures and guidelines regarding the treatment
and questioning of children in custody, mean that children's rights
are often abused. In some circumstances, children were
interrogated in a manner beyond their emotional! developmental
capacity of understanding and in circumstances where they were
neither supported nor represented in a manner which could
assist such understanding.
For children who had been detained in either remand or formal
detention, there were no mechanisms being enacted to ensure
the successful return of the child to their family, community or
society - thus the dictates of the judicial system become a life
sentence for children, excluding them from society and the
support networks therein.
For the parties involved in the delivery of 'justice', they are
served little better than the recipients. The requirements of
formalised training for senior level staff is not replicated at lower
levels, with no formal training being offered for LC's , Prison
Officers or the Police in the handling of children. No specialised
training on juvenile justice is incorporated in the training of
Magistrates or court officers and training materials, procedures
and guidance are noticeably absent.
It has been a long recognised that non-government agencies are
often the primary agents for change, stimulating and instigating
more humanitarian or proactive responses to particular target
groups. However, the absence of NGO activity in the field of
juvenile justice was significant in terms of the lack of external
support, limited advocacy for juvenile justice and little
acknowledgement of the real issues to be addressed, and
subsequently poor morale and low commitment of statutory staff
numbers in the juvenile justice systems.
In addition, insufficient numbers of personnel are functioning in
dilapidated and inadequate premises, with little or no logistical
support and often insufficient remuneration for personal survival.
Finally, the outcomes of the study clearly identified a preference
by communities and children alike for the resolution of
inappropriate behaviour to be undertaken primarily at community
level, however, major obstacles identified in the administration of
juvenile justice ranged from poor parenting and parental neglect
to social/cultural barriers and corruption at all levels.
Recommendations
Based on the outcomes of the research, the following issues
were identified as priorities:
I. Community resolution - Issues concerned with children in
conflict with the law should be addressed and resolved at
community level whenever possible. Support, training, guidance
and technical advice should be provided to representatives from
communities who would be involved in local resolutions. In
addition, communities need sensitisation on the rights and
general child care and protection needs of children.
2. Detention of children - remand and custodial sentences should
be used only as a last resort, in cognisance of the particular
circumstances for each child and in the absence of any other
available or appropriate alternatives.
3. Trial Process - the trial process and the timescale involved
should be reduced to the absolute minimum for the dispensing of
justice and the best interests of the child.
4. Defilement - the charge of defilement should be reviewed and
identification made in law in relation to the differing nature of
circumstances involved in this act and revised appropriate laws
devised for juveniles.
5. Arrest and questioning of children - all participants in the arrest
and questioning of children should have access to appropriate
training, guidance and technical advice in line with International
agreements and Constitutional law.
6. Pro and Post - Release Provisions - provisions should be made
and mechanisms agreed and supported for the effective return to
the families and communities of children who have been
remanded or detained in custody.
7. Personnel - appropriate numbers of staff; in the various
disciplines, should be recruited. All staff members should be
trained in working with children in conflict with the law, and be
provided with adequate remuneration, logistical support and
materials to effectively respond to the basic needs and rights of
these children.
8. Structures - appropriate structures and accommodation should
be established and maintained to ensure the effective delivery of
juvenile justice and the appropriate care of children who are in
conflict with the law.
9. Corruption - needs to be exposed and sanctions administered
for those parties involved and measures taken to ensure that
children's cases are not prejudiced through the inappropriate
actions of other parties.
10. Record Keeping - data systems and record keeping needs to
be established to allow co-ordination among all actors and the
potential to follow-up individual cases, disposals and recidivism.