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Juvenile Code under review
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Posted on May 03 2000
Proposed amendments to the existing CNMI Juvenile Code are underway, Juvenile Corrections/Probation Supervisor Sylvio Ada said yesterday, revealing meetings held between the Division of Youth Services and the CNMI Legislature on the said initiative.
Mr. Ada said DYS officials recently met with Reps. Malua Peter and Brigida Ichihara, who have asked the Juvenile Corrections Division to conduct a thorough review of the five-page DYS provisions under the four-volume CNMI Criminal Justice Code.
“The legislators asked us to go ahead and review the criminal code,” said Mr. Ada.
Lawmakers have asked DYS to present its recommendations at the end of this month.
Mr. Ada spoke of certain areas in the current Juvenile Code that require updating to make it more responsive to the needs of the community. He specifically stressed on the absence of a provision on probation officers as official intervening experts in juvenile delinquency cases.
Under the present set-up, DYS social workers perform actual tasks accorded to certified probation officers.
“Part of the proposed criminal code should state that juvenile probation officers should be present. Frankly, we are in a very weak situation in that we don’t have laws that would support us of the duties that we must be performing,” Mr. Ada said.
DYS is aiming for a separate code that would tackle and elaborate more on juvenile laws.
Mr. Ada added that introducing the proposed changes would hopefully eliminate limiting provisions that hinder the agency to perform its real tasks.
From 523 in 1997 to 369 in 1999, juvenile delinquency cases have tremendously dropped and experts attribute the decline to more public awareness and better prevention measures.
But though numbers have lessened throughout the years, the significance or seriousness of crimes committed have not ebbed, according to Mr. Ada.
DYS has taken major steps to prevent school students from juvenile delinquency, he added.
Having youths actively involved in community services, athletics, and wholesome activities are some of DYS’s efforts in keeping CNMI’s youths out of trouble.
