Legal representation for children in court cases under discusssion: Rohani

PUTRAJAYA: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is mooting the idea of providing legal representation for court cases involving children.
Its minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said that at present, the voices of children were relayed to the court through reports put together by social workers.
"Therefore, the ministry felt that it is timely for us to look into this possibility as other countries like New Zealand have done so," Rohani said to reporters after officiating a forum on legal representation for children today.
Rohani added that such a move is necessary to ensure that the voices of child victims are heard, in order to protect their interests, especially in cases involving sexual crimes.

She added that usually, it is always the voices of the parents or perpetrators that is heard in court, whereas the voices of the children are only treated as evidence.
Asked if the ministry would make it compulsory for all court cases involving children to have legal representation, the minister said the matter had to be deliberated further before any decision could be made.

Meanwhile, Rohani revealed that more than 300 cases have been solved at the Special Court on Sexual Crimes Against Children since its establishment in July.

"None of the cases brought to the special court have been struck out and most of the cases have been settled with sufficient evidence.

"Previously a lot of cases have been struck out, because the victims were traumatised when they saw the perpetrators during court proceedings," she said.