HomeNewsBeritaBusinessLifestyleOpinionWorldSportsPropertyEducationCarzillaGalleryVideosAccelerator

Unicef hails special court for sexual crimes against children

-

The UN body says it is ready to lend its support and expertise to set up standard operating procedures for handling cases involving child sexual victims.

0
Shares
Total Views: 1
unicef

KUALA LUMPUR:
United Nations International Children’s Fund (Unicef) Malaysia today welcomed the launching of a special court for sexual crimes against children and the “Permata Room” for the comfort of child witnesses.

Unicef Malaysia representative Marianne Clark-Hattingh, in a statement here, said the launch of the special court was a tangible step towards setting up the systems and structures necessary for protecting the child victims of sexual crimes.

“Unicef is ready to lend our support and expertise to the working committee in order to establish standard operating procedures for handling cases involving child sexual victims,” she said.

Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday inaugurated a special court to handle sexual crimes against children, the first such court in Southeast Asia.

Najib said for a start, the special court at the Palace of Justice would hear cases that took place in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

Meanwhile, the waiting room, named “Permata Room”, was also opened yesterday by the prime minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, who is also patron of the Permata programme.

The Permata Room, which is equipped with a television, computers and children’s games, also has a mini library of reading materials suitable for children which were contributed by the Permata Foundation.

Clark-Hattingh said the establishment of the court was also an important step in a series of initiatives needed to ensure that the Malaysian judicial system continues to protect child victims of sexual crimes.

“Additionally, the Malaysian criminal justice system is encouraged to consider additional improvements to court practices for child victims, which include having dedicated judges and prosecutors, clear practice guidelines for them, special procedures for evidence from child victims and witnesses and pretrial ‘directions’ or ‘ground rules’ hearings between judges and counsel,” she said.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.