Bills

REPORT ON CHILD JUSTICE BILL
Introduction

Although legislation dealing with child offenders exist, blatantly lacking is the adequate social services delivery system to support this legislation and the clear underlying philosophy and principles within the legislation, of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations guidelines such as the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, to which all OECS Member States are parties.

CHILDREN (CARE AND ADOPTION) BILL
EXPLANATORY NOTES
The purpose of this Bill is to provide for the care and protection of children and for other related matters. The Bill is based on the recognition of the need to take legislative action to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The Bill will seek to provide that in all actions and decisions made pursuant to the provisions of the Bill concerning a child, the safety, welfare and well-being of the child shall be of paramount consideration, and the same principle shall apply where a child has been removed from his or her parents.

REPORT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BILL
Introduction

This report is a pre-requisite to the draft Domestic Violence Bill herewith attached. By ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and complying with the provisions of the Beijing Platform, the Governments of the OECS Member States have committed themselves to the eradication of violence against women in the societies.

REPORT ON THE STATUS OF CHILDREN BILL
Introduction

This report is a prerequisite to the draft Status of Children Bill which is attached. The Bill seeks
to provide for reform legislation in the OECS Member States to remove all discriminations
against children born out of wedlock.

At present, there is status of children legislation existing in some of the OECS Member States,
with the exception of Anguilla, Dominica, Montserrat and Saint Lucia. However the status of
children which exists in some of the OECS Member States is inadequate and requires further
expansion as it does not remove all forms of discrimination against children born out of wedlock
and as a result is not in compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, (CRC) and
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, (CEDAW), of which all OECS Member States are parties.

STATUS OF CHILDREN (PARENTAGE TESTING PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by the Minister pursuant to section 18 of the Status of Children [Act/Ordinance], the Minister responsible for the administration of justice makes the following Regulations:
Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Status of Children (Parentage Testing Procedures) Regulations, 200[ ].