October 13th, 2009

On September 30th, 2009, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour & Social Development announced that the Child Protection Act, 2007 (CPA) would come into force the next day, October 1st, 2009.  Other than this brief announcement, the Appointed Day Notice was published in the Bahama Journal of Tuesday, October 6th, 2009.  It may have been published in the other dailies as well, but that is the one I saw.

The enforcement of this significant piece of social legislation is long overdue and the government ought to be condemned for failing to see the importance of it to the care and protection of our children and the development and strengthening of families.  After two and a half years of stop and review, the Child Protection Act, 2007 has been brought into force in its entirety, absolutely no amendments as was foreshadowed by the Government.  It is clear that national and international pressure have forced the Government’s hand in bringing this Act into force, but 13 days after the “by the way” announcement in Parliament, no substantive announcement has been made giving this matter the kind of attention it deserves.

The Child Protection Act, 2007 harmonizes the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child with domestic law and brings under one umbrella several pieces of legislation pertaining to children which currently exist.  Chief among the repealed existing legislation is the archaic Children and Young Persons (Administration of Justice) Act which was first enacted in 1947 and the Affiliation Proceedings Act (1978).  Other legislation repealed are the Maintenance of Emigrants’ Children (1923), the Guardianship and Custody of Infants (1961) and the Infants’ Relief (1887) Acts.  The CPA also makes some changes to several sections of the Penal Code and the Adoption of Children Act.

Some of the more significant new and innovative provisions of the CPA are:
 

• The provision for fathers of children born out of wedlock to pursue access to or custody of those children.
• The provision for mothers of children born out of wedlock to pursue maintenance for those children up to the age of 18.
• Increased penalties for abuse of children.
• Mandatory reporting of all forms of abuse against children.
• Mandatory parenting classes in cases where children are brought before the courts.
• Supervision Orders for children rendered uncontrollable in the first instance, rather than committal to a detention centre.
• The raising of the age of criminal responsibility from seven years to ten years.
• Raising the upper age for the juvenile detention centres from sixteen years to eighteen years.
• The provision of a Minor’s Advocate who would undertake representation of children who are unrepresented and are parties in court proceedings such as those before the Juvenile Court.
• The establishment of a children’s register and registry.
• The establishment of the National Committee for Families
• and Children.
• The management of children in juvenile detention centres.

The passage and now enforcement of the CPA is the result of some twelve years of work by various governmental and non-governmental agencies and committees.  As the former Minister of Social Services and Community Development who had carriage of this legislation, I take this opportunity to thank the Committee which started the work in 1995, the staff of the Ministry and Department of Social Services, the Attorney General’s Office and all the other ministries and agencies that worked so diligently on the document.

The community at large is also to be commended - those who participated in the various forums – the religious community, including the Bahamas Christian Council, civic organizations, the Women’s Advisory Council, the Women’s Bureau, Mrs. Sharon Wilson and the Committee which reviewed and made recommendations on the Affiliation Proceedings Act and the media, including BIS.

I also pay tribute to those persons and organizations which have continually agitated for the Act to be brought into force, particularly Mr. Clever Duncombe.

It is now for the Government to put in place an active educational programme to ensure the widest possible dissemination of the provisions of the CPA.  The Domestic Violence (Protection Orders) Act should also be included in this exercise as this was not done after that legislation was brought into force.  It makes no sense to have new legislation put on the books and not make an attempt to empower those persons who will benefit from it through some informational programme.
 
Finally, the Government needs to tell the Bahamian people what it has done to build capacity in the Department of Social Services to provide the structure, manpower and the resources needed to effectively enforce the provisions of the CPA and the DVPOA.

It is a well-known fact that Social Services is currently overwhelmed by the high level of persons seeking assistance due to the Country’s economic challenges.  While social workers are doing a yeoman’s task in trying to meet these challenges, the process for many seeking has been very slow and frustrating.  It is important to know what steps are being taken to deal with these issues.