Act No. 12 of 2012 - Trinidad and Tobago Parliament

1 ANACT relat ing totheprot ect ion of child ren andforma tters rela ted theret o[Assentedto6thAugust, 2012 ]WHER EA Sit is enacte d by secti on 13(1) of theCons tit ut ion tha tan Act of Par liam ent towh ich thatsect ion app lies ma yexpr essly dec lar etha tit shall ha veeffec tev en thoug hinc on sisten twith sect ions4and 5ofthe Con stitu tion and ,if any Act does so decla re, it shallha ve effec tac cord ingly:Pr eam bleSecond Sess ion Ten th Par liame nt Repu bl ic ofTr inidad and Tob agoRE PUB LI C OF TRINI DAD AND [ ]Legal Supplement Part Atothe Trinidad and Tobago Gazette , Vol. 51,No. 133, 8th July, 2012 And wher eas it is pr ovided by sect ion 13 (2) of theCons tit ut ion tha tan Act of Par liam ent towh ich thatsect ion app lies is one the Bill for which ha sbeen passedby both Hous es of Par liamen t and at the fin al vot ether eon in eac hHou se ha sbeen sup por ted bythe vot esof not les s than three-fift hs of all mem ber s of tha tHou se:And wher eas it is necessa ry and exp edient tha ttheprov isions of this Ac t shall have effect even thou ghincon sist ent with sec tion s4an d5of theCon stit ut ion :ENAC TEDby thePa rliamen tof Trin idadandToba go asfollow s:PART IPRE LIMINARY1.

2 (1)T his Ac tmay becit ed as the Child ren Act, 2012 .(2)Th is Act comes into oper ation on such dateasisfix ed by the Pr esiden tby Pr oc lamat Actsha ll have effec teven though inc onsist entwith sect ions 4an d5of theCon stitu tion .3.(1)Inthis Ac t am mu nit ion has themean ingassign ed toitun der sec tion 2of theFir ear ms Ac t; Au thorit y mea ns the Ch ildr en s Aut hor ityest ab lished under the Ch ildr en sAut horit yAct; bodily or ific e mea ns an us, vagina , uret hra,mout h, ear or nostr il; child mea naperson under theage of eight eenyear s; child porn ogr aph y mean saph ot ogra ph, film ,vi de o or oth er vi sual repr es en tation ,whe the r or not made by elec troni c,mech an ica l, artistic or ot her met hod s, tha tshows, for asexu al pur pose (a)achild en gagin gin explic it sexua lact ivity or con du ct;Act incon sistentwi th Con stitutionShor ttitle andcomm enc emen tInter pr eta tion126No.

3 12 Children2012 Cha p. 16: 01Ch ap .46: 10 Ena ctment(b)achild in asexua lly exp licit pose;(c)par ts of a child s bod y pa sted tovisu al repr esen tat ions of parts ofan adu lt sbod yorviceversa;or(d)par ts of achild s body which ha vebe en rende re d co mplete bycomp ut er gen er ated ima ges or byothe r me thods of vis ualrepr esen tat ion,bu tdoes not inc lude an yvisu al repr esent a-tion pr odu ce d or repr odu ce d for thepurpo se of edu cati on, cou nse lli ng, thepr om otion of repr odu ctive hea lth or aspartof acrimin al investiga tion an dprosec ut ionor civ il pro ce edi ngs or in the law fulperf or ma nce of a pe rson s professiona ldu ties an dfunctions; Chi ldre n s Atto rney mean san at tor ney-a t-la wap poin ted in accor da nc ewit hsect ion 88 ; Ch ildr en sHome has themean ing assigned toit unde r secti on 2 of the Ch ildre n sComm un ity Resid enc es, Fost er Car e an dNur ser ies Ac t; coh abit an t has the mean ing assigned to itun der sect ion 2(1) of the Coh ab itat iona lRelat ionsh ips Act ; Co mmuni ty Res iden ce has the mean ingass ign ed to it under sec tion 2 of theChildr en s Com mu nit yResiden ces, Fost erCar eand Nu rser ies Act; Co nve nti on mean s the Unite d Nati on sConv en tion on theRigh tsof theCh ild; Cou rt inclu des aMagistr at e s Court ; dan ger ous drug has the mean ing assigned toit und er sec tion 3(1) of the Da nger ousDr ug sAc t;No.

4 12 Children201 :55 ActNo. 65 of :25 fam ily ma tter mean s any cause, matter orlegal proceedingari singou tof any writ ten orother law an dconne cte dwit hamatrim on ial,fam ilia lor oth er dom estic relat ion ship; fit per son has the mean ing assigned to itun der sect ion 3of theCh ildr en sAu thorit yAct; firea rm has the mean ing assigned to it un dersec tion 2of theFir ear ms Ac t; gu ar dian in rela tion to achild, inc ludes anyper son who has, in theopin ion of aCourtha vin gcogn isan ceof any case in relat ion tothe child, resp on sibility for thechild ; lega lguardia n in relation toachild ,mea nsaper son app oint ed to be his gua rdian bydeed or will, or by or der of a Court ofcomp eten tjurisdic tion ; me dical prac titi one r mean s a pe rs onregis tered under theMedic al Boar dAct ; Mi nis ter mean s the Mi nister to wh omrespon sibility for childr en is assign ed ; penet ration of achild inclu des (a)the inser tion of any bod y par t or anyob jec tint oachild sbod ily or ifice; or(b)the inser tion of apa rt of achild s bod yinto aperson s bod ily orifice,and penet rates in rela tion to achild, shall becons trued ac cord ingly; penis inc ludes scrotu m; plac e of safety mean s a Rec ept ion Cen treestabl ish ed under se cti on 14 of theChildr en s Au thorit y Ac t, a Comm un ityResiden ce or an y plac e ap poin ted by theAut hor ity to be a plac e of safety for thepu rpose of theAc t.

5 Pub lic plac e inc ludes any pu blic park, ga rden,wh ar f, jet ty, str eet or bu s term inu s, an d128No .12 Children2012 Act No. 2of 201 1 Cha p. 29: 50an ygr ou ndor plac etowh ich the pu blic forthe time being has or is per mit ted toha veac cess, wh eth er on pa ymen tor ot herwise; Re habi litati on Ce ntr e has the mean ingass ign ed to it under sec tion 2 of theChildr en s Com mu nit yResiden ces, Fost erCar eand Nu rser ies Act; res pons ibility includ es custody, charge, carean dcon trol; street ha sthemean ing assign ed toit in theHig hways Ac t; tou ching in relat ion to achild ,inclu des (a)br ingin gapar tof aper son sbody or anobj ect int o con tact wit h a pa rt of thechild sbod y; or(b)causin gapa rt of achild s bod ytocomeint o con tac t with a par t of a per son sbody,wh eth er ornot through cloth ingor any ot herma ter ial; va gina includ es vu lva.

6 Vid eo rec or din g mean sanyrec ordin gon anymed ium from whic hamoving image ma yby any mean sbepr odu ced or transm itted ,wh eth er or not ac compa nied by a soun dtrack;an d vis ual rep resent ation includ es aphot ogra ph,film or video, wh eth er or not it wa smad ebyelect ron ic,mech an ical or ar tist ic mea ns.(2)Fo r the purp oses of this Act , pene trat ion,touc hing or an yot her ac tivit yis sexu al if (a)it is not don e for med ica lly rec ognisedpur poses; and(b)areas ona ble person wou ld con sider tha t (i) theper son spur pose in rela tion toit, is, bec ause of its na ture, sexua l;orNo. 12 Children2012129 Cha p. 48: 01(ii) bec au se of its nat ure it may besexu al an d be cause of itscirc umsta nc es or the purposes ofan yper son in relat ion toit, or both ,it is sexu IIPRE VENT ION OFCRU ELT Y TOCHI LDREN4.

7 (1)Wher eaperson has responsib ilit yfor achildan d (a)the pe rson wilfully as sau lts , ill -tr eats,neglec ts, ab and ons or exp oses the child orcau ses or pr oc ur es the child to beassa ult ed,ill-tre ate d, ne gl ec ted, abando ne d, orex pos ed in a ma nn er lik ely to cause thatchild suffer ing or inj ury to his physica l,ment al or emot iona lhealth ;or(b)aninfa nt und er theage of three yea rs dieswhilst in bed or an yoth er pl ace wit htha tpers on and it is pr oved that (i) the de ath was not cau se d bydisea se or any ot her med ica lcause;an d(ii) the person was, at the ma teria ltim eund er theinfluenc eof drink ,dan ger ou s dru gs or oth ersubsta nc es havin gasim ila reffectan d this resu lted in the dea th ofthechild,the person comm its theoffen ceof cruelt ytoachild.

8 (2)A pe rso n who co mmits an off enc e un dersubs ect ion (1) is liab le (a)on sum mar y con vic tion , to a fin e of fivethou san d dollar s and to imprison men t forsix year s; or(b)on convic tion on indic tmen t, to afine of fiftythou san d dollar s and to imprison men t forten year 12 Children2012 Prev ent ionofcruel tytochildren(3)For the pu rposes of subsec tion (1), apar ent orot her per son who is legally lia ble tomaint ain achild ,shall be deem ed to ha ve neglect ed him in a man nerlik ely to caus einjury to his healt h (a)if hav ing been able to pr ovid ead equ at efood ,clot hing ,med icalaid or lodgin gfor thechild ,he fails to so pr ovide; or(b)if ha vin gbeen unable oth er wise toprovid eade qua te food, cloth ing, medic al ai d orlodging for the child, he failed to takere as onabl e steps to pr oc ur e wh at isprov ide dunder anywr itt en lawapp lica bleto his cir cum stan ces.

9 (4)Wh ere a per son is char ged with an offen ceun der subs ect ion (1), it is adefence for him toprovetha t, atthe mat er ial time, hewa sun ab le to adequ at elyprov ide for the child beca use he suffered from aninfirm ity of the mind or bod y.(5)Aper son may beconvic ted of an offence un derthis sect ion not wit hst an din g tha t actual sufferin g orinjur ytohealt h, or thelikelih ood of suc hsuffer ing orinjur yto hea lth was obvia ted by theaction of anot herpers on .(6)Not hing in this sect ion shall be con strued asaffect ing therig htof an ypa ren t, tea cher or ot her per sonhav ing the lawful control or cha rge of a child toadmin ist er reason ab le pu nishm ent to suc hchild .(7)Re as onabl e pu nishmen t ref err ed to insubs ect ion (6), in rela tion to an yper son oth er tha napa ren torguardi an, shall not includ ecorpor al punish men t.

10 (8)Nothi ng in thi s secti on shal l be taken asprev ent ing proc eedin gs from bein gbr ought aga inst anypers on in resp ect of an offen ceunder any wr itt en .12 Children201 2131 PART IIIOFFEN CES IN RELATION TOBEGGING, RISK OFBURN ING,FIREARM S ANDAMMUN ITION5.(1)Apers on who (a)cau ses or pr oc ur es any child; or(b)hav ingrespon sibility for achild, allows thatchild ,to be in any street, pr emises, or ot her plac e for thepu rpose of beg gin g, with out thewrit ten app rova lof theAut hor ity ,com mits anoffen ce an dis lia ble on sum maryconv iction to a fin e of thr ee thou san d dolla rs and toimpr isonm ent for six mont hs.(2)Ape rso ncomm itsan offenc eunder subsec tion (1)wh eth er or not the child en gaged in or pret en ded toen ga ge in an y sin gin g, pla ying, da ncing, perfor min g,offer ing any thing for sale or oth er wise.