Judiciary, Costaatt sign transitionary programme MoU

THE Judiciary and Costaatt (the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts) signed an MOU to collaborate on a transitionary programme for children who come before the court.

Chief Justice Ivor Archie made the announcement at the 2022 Costaatt graduation ceremony at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya, when he was presented with the Costaatt Partnership Award on behalf of the Judiciary on Saturday.

He said the Accelerate, Restore, Connect (ARC) programme will combine academic development, psychological support, career coaching, and mentorship to create a supportive environment which will hopefully promote positive behaviour change and reduce the risk of recidivism.

“The programme aims to accelerate their focus and thinking, restore them into society and connect them with the right community and network for a purpose-driven life. It is hoped that through this partnership we can assist in supporting these children as they transition out of the court system and into society.”

Costaat presented the Judiciary with the award in recognition of its support to the college's School of Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning via guidance in curriculum review and development, among other collaborations.

Archie said as someone committed to lifelong learning and who recognised the power of education to transform lives, he valued the partnership highly. He said it was important to prepare citizens for the society we intend to create.

And the belief that training and education will further strengthen systems culminated in the development of the Judicial Education Institute of TT as a formal part of the Judiciary’s structure.

Even before JEITT, the as far back as 1986, the Judiciary worked with the John Donaldson Technical Institute to introduce Computer Aided Transcription (CAT) with the aim of getting rid of long hand note taking by judges.

Similarly, he said Costaatt helped to transform the Judiciary by creating avenues for 21st century training in tools and skills that used modern court technology. This included training people in court transcriptions when the Judiciary introduced the For The Record (FTR) audio digital recording system into the Magistrates Courts, and the 2017 partnership that trained digital voice writers for the courts.