Ministry to host series of meetings on proposed child legislation:


Bahamas Information Services -





NASSAU, The Bahamas --- The Ministry of Social Services and Community Development will continue its series of Town Meetings on the proposed (Family And) Child Care Protection Act, 2006 in the Family Islands next week with a visit to Abaco on Monday.

The meetings got underway Tuesday, May 23 in New Providence at the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union Building, Farrington Road and are designed to solicit public response to the proposed legislation which if enacted, will result in the repeal of a number of existing pieces of legislation, among them, the Children and Young Persons Act, Chapter 97; the Maintenance of Emigrants Act, Chapter 128 the Guardianship and Custody of Infants Act, Chapter 132; the Affiliation Proceedings Act, Chapter 133 and the Infants Relief Act, Chapter 134.

The proposed legislation will also result in changes to sections of the Penal Code and the Adoption of Children’s Act. Minister of Social Services and Community Development, the Hon Melanie Griffin, said the new thrust “will no doubt” challenge some of the age-old cultural practices and beliefs about effective child-rearing and intervention practices and will entail offering more rehabilitative and family services to children in conflict with the law.

“The proposed legislation seeks first to implement measures that will enable the enforcement in law of certain responsibilities that persons should discharge towards the elderly and young with whom they have relations and will secondly seek to enable The Bahamas to fulfill certain obligations assumed under the Convention of the Rights of the Child,” Mrs. Griffin said.

Minister Griffin said the draft legislation covers a wide range of matters including the Rights of the Child, Custody, maintenance Rights and Duties of Members of the Family As between Themselves, Care and Protection of Children, the Establishment of a National Committee for Families and Children, Juvenile Courts, Places of Detention and Children Detained or Brought before a Court.

She said that while the proposed legislation will include several of the provisions currently included in the various Acts that are intended to form part of the new legislation, it also contains “some new and innovative provisions.”

“These include, but are not limited to, raising the age of criminal responsibility from seven years to ten years; Supervision Orders for uncontrollable children in the first instance rather than committal to a detention centre; raising the upward age for juvenile centre detainees from 16 to eighteen years of age, in addition to provisions for a Minor’s Advocate who will be responsible for representing children without legal representation (and) who are parties in court proceedings such as those before the Juvenile Court,” Minister Griffin said.

“It is the intent of the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to undertake wide public consultation on this proposed piece of legislation which I feel will have some far-reaching, positive consequences for children, families and a number of agencies that provide services to them,” Mrs. Griffin added.

Minister Griffin and a team of technical experts from the Ministry of Social Services and Community Development and the Office of the Attorney General will travel to Abaco on Monday to host a town meeting that will address various aspects of the proposed legislation.

They will travel to Grand Bahama two days later (Wednesday, May 31) for Town Meetings at Mary Star of the Sea (Freeport, Grand Bahama) and the Bartlett Hill Primary School in Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama. The meetings are scheduled to get underway at 7pm.

Ministry and government officials anticipate wrapping up the public consultative process by the end of June, 2006.

“These consultations will provide citizens of The Bahamas with the opportunity to seek clarification on the provisions included in the proposed legislation, to offer constructive criticism and to advance suggestions for improvements,” Mrs. Griffin added.

05/26/2006

bahamas