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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:41 am
Time: 11:41 am
Results for juvenile justice systems (belize)
1 results foundAuthor: American Bar Association Title: Assessment of Juvenile Justice in Belize Summary: Through almost 40 interviews of many different actors and material gathered from all over Belize, we have tried to assess the needs of the juvenile justice system. We did our best to gather information from all stakeholders involved in one way or another with juvenile offenders, from the prevention and detention stages to imprisonment and release. This allowed us to learn the opinions and points of view of a significant sample of professionals involved in this area. We interviewed judges, prosecutors, police officers, community rehabilitation officers, social workers from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and even former offenders themselves with the objective to avoid imposing one single point of view, but to use the variety of different answers to the same question to inform the results. The questions involved legal but also practical considerations that will make it possible to analyze the weaknesses and peculiarities of the system at all levels. Interviews are one of the most efficient ways to gather information because they are fast, the participants add valuable opinions, and those interviewed know they will remain anonymous. Another source of information is the material we have gathered at the centers and institutions as well as the material participants were willing to share. However, this evaluation uses inductive and deductive reasoning that does not allow us to know with certainty how generalized specific bad practices are or if the illegal procedures, sometimes described, really happened. The main objective of the assessment is to create a critical analytical analysis, and not to condemn but to improve the juvenile justice system in Belize, thanks to the input of all the actors involved. We strongly believe that in Belize, as in other countries, any improvement in the system will bear medium term fruits by helping to decrease the adult crime rate, since some studies have concluded that working properly with juvenile offenders can reduce recidivism as much as 50%. Some stakeholders may disagree, wholly or in part, with the findings, but the aim is to create a debate where the same actors involved will be able to discuss ways to improve the juvenile justice system. We also wanted to make this assessment accessible to those unfamiliar with the Belizean justice system. The American Bar Association will convene and facilitate working groups beginning in November 2010, but most of the reform effort falls on the shoulders of the Belizean actors who will be asked to draft guidelines and recommendations for the benefit of the juvenile justice system and the whole society. The reality is that most justice systems in the world are not able to move forward without an internal, self-critical approach. Details: Washington, DC: American Bar Association, 2011. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Rule of Law Initiative: Accessed July 17, 2013 at: http://apps.americanbar.org/rol/publications/belize_assessment_of_juvenile_justice_11_10_eng.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Belize URL: http://apps.americanbar.org/rol/publications/belize_assessment_of_juvenile_justice_11_10_eng.pdf Shelf Number: 129429 Keywords: Juvenile Justice ReformJuvenile Justice Systems (Belize)Juvenile Offenders |