Charlestown Nevis (March 1, 2004) -- The second legal sensitisation workshop this year, which was organised by the Gender and Social Affairs Department of the Nevis Island Administration in conjunction with the OECS/CIDA Judicial and Legal Reform Project was opened Monday by the Health Planner in the Ministry of Health, Ms Nicole Slack.

Stepping in for the Minister of Health, the Hon Mrs Jean Harris, the Health Planner said that the OECS in collaboration with CIDA and other regional and international partners have recognised the importance of addressing some of the negative factors and as such were working towards securing the rights of individuals who make up the family unit by reforming existing legislation regarding family and domestic issues.

Saying that this is only the first step, she told the participants who were gathered at the Nevis Credit Union Conference Room: “It is your responsibility as professionals involved in social welfare to follow through and ensure that you clients as well as other deserving members of the community reap the benefits associated with the amendments of these laws.”

Ms Slack further noted: “This workshop will provide you with the tools necessary to exercise your responsibilities. Upon its conclusion I trust that you will walk away adequately prepared to utilise your new found knowledge for the benefit of all members of the familial unit, the men, women and children of our island.”

The two-day workshop brings together guidance counsellors from the two public secondary schools on the island, teachers from private schools, police officers, community nurses, Alexandra Hospital’s matron, pre-school principals, a representative from the Special Education, Health Educator and officials from the Department of Community Affairs, Youth and Sports.

Facilitating the workshop is Charlestown lawyer, Mr Ricaldo Caines, whose area of concentration for the first day included an Overview of the Legal Framework for Social Delivery, the Probation and Child Welfare Act 1994, the Domestic Violence Act 2000, Juvenile Act, Paternity - the legal implications, the Status of Children Act 1983, Maintenance Laws - an overview, Legal Guardianship and The Way Forward -Development of Policy.

Director of Gender and Social Affairs Department, Mrs Cherril Bartlette, in her welcome speech said: “The Department of Gender and Social Affairs has been looking for an opportunity to bring social service providers together in a forum such as this. The OECS/CIDA Judicial and Legal Reform Project has provided the framework to make this wish a reality.”

She pointed out that it was their hope at the Department that the workshop would be a catalyst for greater cooperation among the institutions and departments represented. “We crave your undivided time and attention,” observed Mrs Bartlette. “It is a unique opportunity to learn about the laws that help us to function effectively in our various calling and as such, the workshop should be viewed as a training exercise.”

Workshop coordinator, Ms Sandra Maynard, informed the participants that the OECS Judicial and Legal Reform Project is a five-year project supporting improvement to administration of laws and the quality of justice throughout the OECS, adding that its aim mainly is to update existing laws dealing with the family and domestic violence.

“Some of our existing laws discriminate against women, children and other groups,” noted Ms Maynard, who is the social case worker in the Department of Gender and Social Affairs. “The project aims to bring these in line to conform with international conventions such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child that some of these OECS territories have signed on to.”

She said that the laws, which were inherited from the British need to be updated to reflect modern times and to better reflect the Caribbean experience, noting that some of the laws are conflicting and inconsistent and “in my mind puzzling.”

She gave the example of where the age of legal sexual consent in 16, while when some order is made by the court for child maintenance that a child has to be maintained until age 18, yet that same child can be legally married at age 14 with the consent of both parents.