Juvenile capabilities lacking in TCI 

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, January 23, 2023 – Capabilities for dealing with Juvenile offenders are not up to par in the Turks and Caicos according to Chief Justice Mabel Agyemang.  The head judge was speaking at the Legal Year Opening on January 4th where she indicated that “Juvenile justice is lagging behind in these islands for lack of proper infrastructure.”

Space will be made for a juvenile court in the new courts complex being built in Providenciales but that is still years away.  As a stopgap till then Agyemang said this,

“Pending the provision of a proper juvenile court within the new courts’ complex, I intend, as practicable, to repurpose our infrastructure, as necessary, to provide juvenile friendly spaces in our courts which will enable our Magistrates to properly apply the Juvenile Court Rules.”

She called on the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to help the efforts along by providing a suitable place for keeping juvenile offenders, “in order that the treatment of our juveniles will meet internationally accepted standards.”

In 2022 several teenagers were arrested and charged by police; multiple of them in the company of older offenders on a variety of offenses involving drugs and guns.