ABSTRACT

In the twentieth century, the law evolved to provide for special treatment of juvenile offenders within the criminal justice system. The law in the Commonwealth Caribbean was initially based largely on the English Children and Young Persons Act 1933. This chapter focuses on the basic differences in the trial of a juvenile as compared with the trial of an adult. Under the relevant Juvenile or Children and Young Persons Act, special provision is made for trial of a juvenile charged with an offence. Juveniles are invariably tried in a juvenile court, which is a special type of court established by the relevant statute pertaining to juvenile trials. An appeal shall lie from any judgment or order of a Children Court master or a Children Court judge to the Court of Appeal in like manner and to like extent as an appeal from any judgment or order of a judge.