The Juvenile Holding Center

The Juvenile Holding Centre was established on 1^st May, 2011 with an emphasis on rehabilitation and reintegration of juveniles into his or her community. With the enactment of the Juvenile Justice Act in October of 2018 there is now a Juvenile Justice Department which falls under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and also a Juvenile Justice Committee which has oversight for the Juvenile Holding Centre.  This Act also saw the age of criminal responsibility being moved from ten (10) to fourteen (14) years. As such, a child is considered a juvenile if he is between the ages of fourteen (14) and eighteen (18) years and he or she has committed a criminal offence. Also the Act has repealed the Juvenile Offenders’ Act Chapter 10:03 and the Training Schools’ Act Chapter 11:06.

The Juvenile Holding Centre houses juveniles, both males and females who are awaiting sentencing by the courts; juveniles who have been sentenced to detention at the New Opportunity Corps, and are awaiting transportation to the institution, and juveniles who have been released from the New Opportunity Corps and awaiting to be sent home.

To assist with the process of rehabilitation and reintegration, the centre has a programme of activities in the area of counselling, education, spiritual, sports etc.  These programmes are conducted by staff and in collaboration with partners.  Additionally, all juveniles who are remanded to the centre are being offered legal representation free of cost by the Guyana Legal Aid Department via a partnership with the United Nations International Children’s’ Education Fund (UNICEF).