CJ ducks media at opening of Children’s Court

AS questions surround the granting of a six-month sabbatical to embattled Chief Justice Ivor Archie, the CJ steered clear of the media yesterday, as he opened the Children’s Court (South) in Fyzabad.

Project manager of the Juvenile Court Candice Davis-Blackman blocked reporters from speaking with the CJ or accompanying him and the official entourage on a tour of the building, saying very politely that she was following instructions. She offered to take the media on a separate tour of the building, which is owned by Laura Khan, wife of Energy Minister Franklin Khan.  Master of the Court Christie-Anne Morris-Alleyne defended the Judiciary’s decision to house the court in Fyzabad, which she said has a proud history, and chastised those who took to social media to described it as being “backwater.” The CJ also reinforced the importance of Fyzabad from a historical, social, industrial and economic perspective, saying the court would serve all, from the south of Chaguanas.

Archie, who also won the first round of a legal challenge against the Law Association to prevent it from investigating his conduct, appeared very uncomfortable in his 33-minute address, speaking softly and slowly, taking long pauses between sentences, before an audience which included Chargé d’Affaires of the United States John McIntyre, UNDP resident co-ordinator Richard Blewitt, Barbados CJ Sir Marston Gibson, mission director USAID Eastern Caribbean, Christopher Cushing and MPs for Fyzabad and La Brea, Nicole Olivierre and Dr Lakram Bodoe.
He apologised for his demeanour, attributing it to a struggle with the cold and a “feeling of déjà vu, having to deliver the same speech two days in a row.” The CJ opened the Port of Spain branch of the court on Tuesday. He described the court, which stands at the Delhi Road, Fyzabad junction, a stone’s throw away from the historic Butler Hall of Revolution, “as a healing centre” for children who find themselves in conflict with the law.

He said it is an important bend in the road and signals a new direction for where the judiciary is taking justice for children. He said the court, which was almost four years in the making, is in response to the needs of youths and was an important milestone in the development of the justice system. One of his guiding philosophies, Archie said, has always been the treatment of the most vulnerable, hence the reason for this rehabilitative approach to dealing with crime and children.
Historically, the CJ said, this country has been punishing children for an infringement of the law and labelling them as “out of control”. He said if anyone should be labelled out of control, it should be the adult parent, if that parent has to take a nine- or ten-year-old before a court for bad behaviour. Punishment without rehabilitation and labelling, he said, lowers a child’s expectations.

Rolling out a comprehensive package of legislation for child justice, Archie said, “We are not taking a soft approach on crime.” He said the new court would bring to bear in the process the benefit of modern understanding and learning from scientific research to address negative behaviour and bring about life-altering changes.