About the preliminary draft of the new Childhood and Youth Code for Cuba (III).

It is, therefore, a modern code, but a necessary one, which is why the popular consultation is still in process to gather opinions and possible constructive suggestions.

The new code also refers to the working age of adolescents and their guarantees. It states that there are exceptional cases where 15 and 16 year olds work, but on the condition that it is for educational purposes. These, in addition, have a protection system that guarantees their conditions.

Another sensitive issue addressed by this bill is related to the legal support of children and adolescents who commit criminal acts. Currently, if a child commits acts that the law classifies as crimes, even if an administrative measure is applied, he/she goes to a school for children with behavioral disorders or to a comprehensive training school. However, what legal representation does such a child have?

For the purposes of this code there is a subsystem of adolescent criminal protection. Although they are judged for the acts they commit, they also have a special protection that protects them. That is to say, they are criminally tried, but since they are minors, the code has to protect them and there is a special treatment for them.

It is necessary that these children do not go directly to institutional care, since it should be the last variant and that is why the term urgent care is incorporated, to clarify in a reasonable time what we are going to do and what response we are going to give to a child. It is necessary that other relatives and people who will take care of them for a certain period of time must appear.

For these reasons, it is considered essential to transform the behavioral schools. Not to close them, because there is an old decree law that protects this system of care for minors against behavioral disorders. What has materialized is to leave the specialists who attend these children in the schools close to these institutions.

In 2024, 20 thousand children, adolescents and young people have been consulted, in addition to farmers, academics and members of the scientific community, associations, institutes and study centers and experts in the Constitution and the Family Code. This ensures a diversity of opinions related to the issues addressed by the preliminary draft and enriches the debate around it.

It is, therefore, a modern but necessary code, which is why the popular consultation is still underway to gather opinions and possible constructive suggestions. The preliminary draft demonstrates once again the will of the Cuban State to prioritize and guarantee laws that protect those who will be the future of Cuba.

Written by DR Osvaldo Manuel Álvarez.