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Good practice Imported

Antigua and Barbuda's Sexual Offences Model Court: A Specialised Justice Pathway for Survivors

Antigua and Barbuda · Saint John's · See the Antigua and Barbuda profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 66% 52/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since January 2019, Antigua and Barbuda has run a Sexual Offences Model Court — the Eastern Caribbean's first — with specialised judges, fast-tracked cases, remote video testimony and integrated survivor support, funded by Canada's JURIST Project.

Antigua and Barbuda's Sexual Offences Model Court: A Specialised Justice Pathway for Survivors

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Directorate of Gender Affairs, Government of Antigua and Barbuda (with the JURIST Project / Caribbean Court of Justice)
Period
since January 2019
Keywords
justice reform, gender-based violence, courts, survivor services

Context

Antigua and Barbuda's Government established the Sexual Offences Model Court in January 2019, with funding from the Canadian JURIST Project. The court bundles expedited case management for sexual offences, specialised trained judges, administrators, police and prosecutors, video-conferencing for vulnerable witnesses, dedicated waiting areas, and integrated survivor support via the Directorate of Gender Affairs and the Family and Social Services Division's Support and Referral Centre.

Results

No published conviction-rate, case-clearance or survivor-outcome statistics are available for the court.

Conclusions

The Caribbean Court of Justice published the Antigua and Barbuda model as a regional template in its 2022 Revised Model Guidelines for Sexual Offence Cases, positioning it for replication across Eastern Caribbean jurisdictions.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — No specific budget published; funded via the Canadian JURIST Project alongside government judicial resources
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Operating continuously since January 2019
Staffing & skills
Specialised, trained judges, administrators, police and prosecutors dedicated to sexual offences cases, Integrated survivor support via the Directorate of Gender Affairs and the Family and Social Services Division's Support and Referral Centre

Conditions for success

  • Specialisation of judicial and law-enforcement personnel
  • Inter-agency coordination across justice, police, gender affairs and social services
  • Technology infrastructure, including video-conferencing for vulnerable witnesses
  • Dedicated funding from the Canadian JURIST Project

Where it fits

Governance type
national government judiciary
Scale
national
Income level
high income (small island state)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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