This report provides an evaluation of the Trinidad and Tobago Juvenile Court Project (JCP). The JCP was a project led by the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago for the establishment of a children court system, and resulted in the development and modification of the legal framework, support systems and staff necessary to operationalize the two Children Courts in Trinidad and Tobago. The JCP also led to the acquisition of two buildings by the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago and customisation of the two buildings by the project to house the Children Courts. 

The JCP sought to achieve the following core objectives:

• Establishment of two children courts in Trinidad that meet standards for adjudicating child justice cases.
• Building of institutional capacity of children courts to adjudicate cases in an efficient and effective manner in accordance with new laws and principles of restorative justice through training to improve adjudication, case management, implementation of rules and procedures, and court-annexed programs in collaboration with government agencies, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the Children’s Authority.
• Building of institutional capacity of organizations providing services to Children in conflict with the law through the creation of effective referral and coordination mechanisms, training on new laws and procedures, improved programs and ability to fulfil the reporting and monitoring requirements of the children courts.
• Establishment of a Peer Resolution Programme based on principles of restorative justice and the development of a cadre of youth leaders. Youth courts will facilitate the adjudication of minor offences committed by persons falling within the ambit of the Children Act.
• Execution of public awareness campaigns to educate and sensitize the public to the reform of the child justice system and the JCP initiatives to support the implementation of the Children Act.

This evaluation is being conducted in line with the Monitoring and Evaluation provision of the project and in accordance with UNDP and USAID Evaluation Policies. In this regard, the evaluation exercise is independent, impartial and of the appropriate standard and quality and is designed with utility in mind. The evaluation is designed to generate relevant and useful information to support evidence-based decision making. The findings, lessons learned and recommendations generated by the evaluation will be used by project partners and project stakeholders to improve future projects and programmes related to child justice. The evaluation will assess the results of the project and will undertake a review of project implementation and provide useful and actionable recommendations for similar projects in the future.