First Instance, Buea and National Coordinator of CYJULERC
So concerned about the welfare of children, Magistrate Epie Esther Ayuk(pictured below) is fond of organising sensitisation meetings on Human Rights promotion and protection. As the only Inquiry Magistrate for children in the town of Buea and National Coordinator of Cameroon Young Jurists' Legal Resource Centre (CYJULERC) she recently assembled stakeholders in the juvenile justice chain to be updated on Children’s rights. This jurist spoke to Christopher Ambe Shu after the seminar. Excerpts:
Your Worship, you recently organised a seminar at the Conference Hall of Alliance Franco- Cameronaise in Buea., What was the focus of the seminar?
Magistrate (Mrs)Epie Esther:The seminar was organised by Cameroon Young Jurists Legal Resource Centre (CYJULERC), a human rights organisation with headquarters in Buea. The seminar was on Juvenile Justice Chain in Cameroon: The Role of Actors; it also focused on international instruments relevant to juvenile justice administration .It was organised to commemorate the this year‘s youth day. And talking about youth we thought, there were some youth who were being neglected, whom we thought we could remember them on this day, and that is the young people involved in crime. This is a class that is always forgotten because most of the children involved are neglected or abandoned children. And most of them live along the streets and when they are picked up by law enforcement officers, no adult knows what has happened to them. And as such, no body cares about what is happening to them.
So we thought that CYJULERC, which has as one of its duties the protection of children’s rights , should organise a meeting to bring together the actors of the Juvenile Justice Chain-that is the civil society , the social welfare officers , the judicial officers(gendarmes and police),the State Counsel Chambers(the Prosecutors),the examining and inquiry magistrates , judges and the Prison officers, to deeply reflect on juvenile justice, and work together to ensure the justice of the young people when need arises.
From the interaction of participants during the one-day workshop, would you say the objective of the meeting was fully achieved?
It was achieved. It was more that the success we expected. The turn out was very massive, with over 40 participants. Some people who were not invited got wind of the meeting and turned up. Everybody participated actively and learned much from each other. We learned much on how to improve on certain aspects of our job working as a team. The workshop revised UN Guidelines for the prevention of Juvenile Deliquency, which stresses that, prevention of juvenile delinquency is an essential part of crime prevention in society. We treated the UN standard minimum rules for the administration of juvenile justice as well as the UN Rules for the protection of juveniles deprived of their liberty. The rules include principles that define the specific circumstances under which children can be deprived of their liberty, emphasizing that deprivation of liberty must be a last resort measure, for the shortest possible period of time and limited to exceptional cases.
We also examined the vulnerability of children in conflict with the law.
What are some of the new things you learned to improve on juvenile justice?
The meeting was chaired by the State Counsel for Buea,His Lordship Justice Wanki,who expounded on what is meant by juvenile justice and what laws are applicable in Cameroon and how these young people should be treated. One of the things which the participants learned which was new was the fact that, Juvenile justice was not only considered when it comes to crime, but also considered in civil matter; the young people have to be taken care of well.
How would you define juvenile justice?
It is an expression used when children come in conflict with the law. The justice that is supposed to be meted on them is special. The law has provided special protection for them to be treated differently from the adult. So, we can say juvenile justice is a process of trying children who are in conflict with the law. The term “children in conflict with the law” refers to anyone under 18 years who comes into contact with the justice system as a result of being suspected or accused of committing an offence.
What special treatment do children have over adults?
The law in Cameroon has stratified children. Below ten years –total criminal irresponsibility; this means they are not responsible for their acts. Children between 10 and 14, they have partial responsibility and between 14 and 18, they have diminished responsibility. So the law has given this special provision for children’s responsibility to be diminished in case they are involved in criminal offences. Because of their vulnerability, these young ones will not fully know their responsibility and so the law makes it mandatory for those who are in charge of to be very careful. When a child is picked along the street by the law enforcement officer for having committed a crime it is mandatory for a social report to be carried out to be able to know the origin or the person of this child, the parent and the status of the child. The law also makes it mandatory for children not to be tried directly by the courts; they have to go through a special procedure of preliminary inquiry by an Inquiry magistrate, who is a magistrate of the bench of the Court of first Instance. Even if they are supposed to be tried it is not in the open court. They are supposed to be tried in camera –that is in chambers with only those involved in the matters.
Why are you so concerned with juvenile justice? Is it because you are a mother?
Partly so. I am privileged to be a mother and I am also privileged to be a magistrate whose duty is to mete out justice to children. Coincidently I am the only inquiry magistrate for children now in Buea.I hope another one will be appointed soon. I am versed with their problems
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