A new child justice bill is in the works to overhaul how youngsters accused of crime are dealt with.

Minister of Home Affairs Edmund Hinkson, who’s currently also acting as Attorney General tells Starcom Network News that new laws are currently under review and should be taken to Parliament by April next year.

The focus will be on rehabilitation rather than jail for young people seventeen years old and under, with the hope of preventing them from becoming long-term criminals.

Mr. Hinkson says magistrates will also give special consideration to the circumstances under which an offense was committed.

Mr. Hinkson says the bill is currently under review by a special sub-committee of cabinet and that the government is also getting advice from the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF.