ADB Launches Judicial Training on Fiji Bench Book on Children
On 20–23 August 2024, in Suva, ADB and UNICEF delivered a comprehensive judicial training program on the Fiji Bench Book on Children. The entire Fiji judiciary participated in the training, supported by ADB's Law and Policy Reform Program.
The training is in line with the Judicial Department's efforts to ensure that judicial proceedings uphold children’s rights and protect their best interests. In his keynote address, Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo emphasized the importance of these efforts: “…it is essential that when [children] come before us, we treat them with the utmost respect within the four corners of the law… within the rights accorded to them in our 2013 Constitution.” ADB Pacific Subregional Office Regional Director Aaron Batten likewise highlighted the importance of a gender-responsive judicial system to address the disproportionate impact of violence on children, particularly girls.
ADB assembled a multidisciplinary team of experienced trainers, notably Robyn Layton, a former Supreme Court Justice in South Australia and herself a co-author of the Bench Book on Children as Witnesses, designed for and used by the Australian judiciary; Samar Minallah Khan, a behavior change, gender, and child rights specialist with a background in anthropology of law and culture; Julia Davey, a barrister specializing in gender issues including cases involving child victims; and Siteri Nasa Navia, a former state prosecutor in Fiji and a specialist in the investigation of crimes against children.
For its part of the program, ADB designed eight customized modules based on Parts A and B of the Fiji Bench Book on Children. These modules covered various aspects of child justice, including child development, communication patterns, pre-trial and trial procedures, questioning techniques relevant to child victims and witnesses in criminal cases, and balancing the rights of the child victim and the defendant. ADB’s trainers enriched discussions with video clips from local and international experts and commentators, as well as simulation exercises that allowed participants to put knowledge into practice. Participants were also given training materials to aid in learning retention and to encourage their continued capacity building.
ADB's training for the judiciary is the initial phase of a comprehensive capacity-building program in Fiji. In the coming months, ADB will be conducting tailored training programs for prosecutors and legal aid commission lawyers, aligning with its whole-of-sector approach to enhancing the justice system's capacity to address child protection issues.
