2007 03: Juveniles in prison: Ensure they get what is best

NST online. Letters. 14/03/07

By : K.N. DAMODARAN, Kota Tinggi

ARE we Malaysians a caring and sharing society? I was quite doubtful about it after reading the report "Kok: Stop sending juveniles to prisons" — (NST, Dec 6).

This news took me down memory lane to a NST report on Sept 19, 2000, "Chor wants report on children in prison". Since 2000, numerous plans were made by the then minister of national unity and social development, Malaysian Bar, minister for law and others about finding ways and means to overcome this problem of juveniles remanded in prisons due to lack of space in remand hostels and approved schools managed and run by the Ministry of National Unity and Social Development.

It has been highlighted recently that there are about 1,000 juveniles in prisons and detention centres. From my experience as a social welfare officer, permit me to make some constructive suggestions to overcome this problem:

• Give proper and intensive training to the newly appointed welfare officers on the Child Act 2001, the ingredients in the preparation of the probation report before they are gazetted as probation officers to appear before the court for children.

• The moment a child has been charged in court, the child becomes the case of the probation officer (P.O.). The P.O. should establish a close contact with the child and his family to help and persuade them to bail the child if he is remanded so that the child’s education would not be disrupted. Visit the child in the remand centre, the school and his home.

• The state welfare officer should request for a copy of the probation report before it is tendered to court so as to check and advise the P.O. if there is anything that needs to be improved in the report.

• Those panel of persons appointed as advisers for court for children should also be given some understanding of the Child Act 2001, the nature of remand hostels and Henry Gurney schools and how they are supposed to present, conduct themselves and advise what is best for the child, to the magistrate.

• The court should also give an opportunity to the P.O. to submit his views after hearing the appeal by the child, his parents, the recommendation of the advisers and the police officer.

• The prison’s director at the receiving end should exercise his powers by advising the police if a remand/committal order is wrongly directed to him, rather than exercising the improper order just because it has been issued by the court.

• The magistrate should consider allowing bail without surety for child offenders from poor families.

• The court for children should as far as possible limit the number of cases to be heard for the half-a-day sitting so that each and every case heard could be studied thoroughly to ensure that the child gets the best form of remedy.