SOCIAL SECTOR INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
34
SUSTAINING GROWTH, SECURING PROSPERITY
CHAPTER 3: NATIONAL SOCIAL SITUATION
• Female juvenile offender management
training - 30 persons;
• Community corrections - 60 persons.
• Initiated the Duty Counsel Scheme - Pilot
Project (Legal Aid and Advisory Authority)
-
The revised Legal and Advice (Amendment) Act
No. 11 of 2012 introduced a newsystemknown as
the Duty Counsel Scheme. Under this Scheme,
mechanisms will be established to ensure
immediate access to legal representation and
advice, to minors and adults, from the beginning
of the criminal justice process regardless of the
time of arrest. A call centre was also established
to facilitate this process and a committee has
been convened to consider all aspects of the
implementation of this scheme.
• Collaboration with Canada to Improve the
Criminal Justice System
- A memorandum
of understanding was signed between the
Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service (TTPS)
and Correctional Service Canada (CSC) in an
effort towards penal reform. In June 2013, a
four-member delegation from the CSC, visited
Trinidad and Tobago to review the existing
infrastructure and programmes. The Canadian
team conducted a needs assessment of the
nation’s prisons (namely Port of Spain, Golden
Grove, Tobago and the Eastern Correctional
Rehabilitation Centre in Santa Rosa, Arima).
Following thisexercise, theMOJhas‘concretised’
its change agenda targeting specific areas
within the Prison Service for intervention. These
areas include using a more scientific approach
for the management of offenders; correctional
programmes and policies targeting attitudes
and behaviours of inmates that predisposes
them to a life of crime; and the implementation
of information technology solutions for a
correctional environment. The MOJ is also
expected to establish a steering committee that
will lead to the transformation agenda of the
TTPS.
5. L
EGISLATIVE
A
GENDA
FOR
THE
S
OCIAL
S
ECTOR
In fiscal 2013, the Ministry of the Attorney
General continued to support the Government’s
Legislative Agenda, which is heavily focused on
the priority area of crime. The following pieces
of legislation were prepared to treat with crime
and justice:
• The Administration of Justice Indictable
Proceedings Act No. 20 of 2011
• The
Administration
of
Justice
-
Deoxyribonucleic Acid Act No. 5 of 2012
• The Administration of Justice Electronic
Monitoring Act No. 11 of 2012
• The Customs (Amendment) Act, 2013
The Ministry also undertook the following
activities worthy of recognition:
• The Universal Periodic Review
The International Law and Human Rights Unit
(ILHRU) prepared the Universal Periodic Review
(UPR), in conjunction with the Commonwealth
Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The UPR is the latest form of country reporting
adopted by the UN for monitoring the human
rights records of 192 member states. Its
ultimate goal is the improvement of the human
rights situation by enhancing the capacity
to deal with human rights challenges and to
share best practices among States. The UPR
National Report was adopted by the Human
Rights Council in March 2012, in which Trinidad
and Tobago received high commendations for
achievements in respect of education, women’s
rights, Millennium Development Goals and
advancement in the reduction of extreme
poverty.
