Legal Year 2024, Expect Juvenile Justice and Best Practices Training

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, January 20, 2024 – With the 2024 Legal Year now officially open a suite of new objectives are on the agenda to be completed including more spaces to deal with juvenile offenders, according to Mabel Agyemang Chief Justice of the Turks and Caicos.

“While we are proud of our achievements in 2023, we will continue to keep our focus on our Vision Statement which is the attainment of ‘a Turks and Caicos where Justice is Available, Accessible and Attainable’,” Agyemang said.

The court thus will be focusing on ‘Court User Satisfaction’; the Chief Justice explained that the judiciary would be rolling out a public campaign to provide information on court services in an effort to demystify their work.

“The hope is to have an informed public, the better to serve these islands.”

Another objective is to develop a viable Juvenile Justice regime in the country. Currently, there is no juvenile detention center in the Turks and Caicos Islands. In 2023 there were several Juvenile offenders for cases including rape and gun possession and the judiciary wants to make sure it is in line with accepted practice in dealing with these types of cases.

“Our energies will be turned to providing a system that will accord with best practices within the Commonwealth,” the CJ said.

Ensuring meaningful Stakeholder Collaboration and  Providing Continuing Judicial Education for Judges and Magistrates were the next objectives which Agyemang said would “improve the quality of justice delivery.”

Developing appropriate Court Infrastructure was also a serious concern of the Chief Justice, “We hope that with renewed stakeholder involvement, we shall tackle – positively – our problem of inadequate infrastructure,” she said.

The CJ is hoping for not only strides towards a new court building Providenciales but buildings to host court sessions in the Family Islands and a new, multi-purpose court in Grand Turk.