Justice Minister Delroy Chuck on Tuesday charged that some judges are requiring children to plead guilty before referring them to the Child Diversion Programme, raising concerns that minors may be acquiring criminal records through a process that was specifically designed to rehabilitate them without formal conviction.

Chuck, the justice minister, raised the issue as the joint select committee reviewing the Child Diversion Act heard submissions from the Ministry of Justice, which warned that confusion in the law is distorting the programme’s original purpose — to steer children away from the formal criminal justice system.

Chuck, who is also chair of the committee, said the courts’ current practice in some cases runs counter to the intent of diversion, which is meant to intervene before a child enters the conviction stage.

“The court literally, in some cases, not in all, but literally ask the child, ‘Did you do it? And if you did it, then you plead guilty.’ Now, that is not the way it should be, because the idea is not to plead guilty and then you say you go for child diversion,” Chuck told the committee.

He stressed that the purpose of diversion is to allow children to avoid criminal records altogether if they successfully complete the programme.

“The question is, is this an appropriate case for child diversion? And if it is and the child goes through a process of child diversion, and successfully completes, then the matter is literally dismissed. So the child doesn’t have a record, but you will see that there’s a section in particular where the judges interpret that taking responsibility means pleading guilty. And, to our mind, that was never the intent of the act,” Chuck added.

Justice officials warned that requiring a guilty plea before diversion creates a serious legal and ethical problem, as it may expose children to convictions the programme was created to prevent.

Julia Moncrieffe-Wiggan, director for public law, restorative and preventative justice in the Ministry of Justice, said the Act’s wording may unintentionally pressure children to admit guilt.

“Under Section 33, sub [section] 2 of the Act, there is this requirement for a guilty plea for warning [which] could be construed as a form of compulsion. And so we would welcome the committee’s review of such a provision to make the appropriate recommendation,” she said.

She explained that while children are expected to acknowledge responsibility as part of rehabilitation, this was never intended to mean entering a formal guilty plea.

“We want to look at acceptance of responsibility without having being unduly influenced by another person. How these matters are navigated by the court and the police is very crucial, and we do have a variation of this with some judges being of the opinion that acceptance of responsibility means entering a plea of guilt,” Moncrieffe-Wiggan said.

The committee also examined broader concerns about consent, with officials warning that the law does not clearly state whether participation in the programme must be voluntary.

Moncrieffe-Wiggan pointed to conflicting language in the legislation that could create confusion.

“Another matter is whether a child’s participation in a child diversion programme always necessitates a child’s consent. This is in the context of the phrase ‘required to participate’, and so there is that language in the Act that says that a child is required to participate in a child diversion programme vis-à-vis what we understand consent to be,” she said.

Chuck agreed that the issue needs urgent clarification, noting that the timing and nature of consent must be properly defined.

The committee was also told that lawmakers should consider making diversion the default option for eligible child offenders, requiring courts to formally explain any decision not to refer a child.

The Child Diversion Act, passed in 2018 and operationalised in 2020, was introduced to reduce youth involvement in the criminal justice system by offering structured support instead of prosecution for certain offences.

Moncrieffe-Wiggan noted that the programme has shown promise, but gaps in the legislation are affecting its effectiveness.

She told the committee that between March 2020 and January 2026, approximately 2,810 cases were referred to the programme, with 1,143 children successfully completing it.

She noted that while the figures show progress, they also highlight the need for legislative reform to strengthen how the programme operates and ensure children are protected from unintended harm.