Restorative Justice Week Feb. 3 to Feb. 9
By: , January 29, 2019The Key Point:
Photo: Contributed
Primary school students participating in the 2017 ‘Restorative Justice Week’ school sensitisation session.The Facts
- Director of Public Relations and Communication at the Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Christine Bailey-Lennon, told JIS News that this year’s theme is fitting as the Ministry continues to strive towards eradicating the cycle of juvenile offenders becoming convicts.
- “We have sensitisation sessions and restorative training for schools and other persons. We want to break that cycle of going from school to prison,” Mrs. Bailey-Lennon said.
The Full Story
The 10th annual Restorative Justice Week will be observed from Sunday, February 3 to Friday, February 9, under the theme: ‘A Restorative Approach to School to Prison Pipeline in Jamaica’.
Director of Public Relations and Communication at the Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Christine Bailey-Lennon, told JIS News that this year’s theme is fitting as the Ministry continues to strive towards eradicating the cycle of juvenile offenders becoming convicts.
“We have sensitisation sessions and restorative training for schools and other persons. We want to break that cycle of going from school to prison,” Mrs. Bailey-Lennon said.
The Week will commence with a Thanksgiving Service at the Montego Bay Faith Temple Assembly of God, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Mrs. Bailey-Lennon said there will be several activities for the week, particularly in western Jamaica, including a Youth Town Hall meeting, ‘Talk Up Youth’, slated for Wednesday, February 6, at the Sam Sharp Teachers’ College, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The town hall meeting will take the format of a panel discussion and will be recorded for television broadcast. Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, is one of the panellists.
Other activities include a Media Day on Monday, February 4; a youth empowerment session with youth at the Hilltop Juvenile Facility, St. Ann, on Tuesday, February 5. A school sensitisation session on restorative justice will be held at the William Knibb High School, in Trelawny, on Thursday, February 7.
The activities end on Friday, February 8, with the 10th Restorative Justice Conference at the Spanish Court Hotel, in Kingston. The scheduled keynote speaker is Associate Professor and Director of the Externship Programme at Gonzaga University, School of Law, Dr. Inga Laurent.
Restorative Justice Week offers the Ministry an opportunity to educate the public and raise awareness islandwide on the Restorative Justice programme. Globally, the week is observed in November. However, it is marked annually in Jamaica during the first week of February by way of the Governor-General’s Proclamation made on February 3, 2007.