Child justice

Abstract

Although the period under review is not an extensive one, it must be noted that cases in which higher courts have pronounced on aspects of the Child Justice Act remain, in the view of the author, rather few. In some high courts, there is no case law during the period under consideration. Whilst this phenomenon could be the product of seamless implementation of the Act’s provisions, it is rather probably related to the dwindling numbers of child justice cases entering the criminal justice system in the first place (see J Sloth-Nielsen ‘Child Justice’ in CJ Boezaart (ed) Child Law in South Africa 2ed (2017) 725), coupled with the widespread use of diversion which then obviates further contact with the criminal justice system. According to the annual reports filed by the Department of Justice and other stakeholders on the implementation of the Child Justice Act, the numbers of charges against children aged below 18 years dropped from 75 000 in 2011/2012 to 45 000 in 2015/6 (the South African Police Services do not keep data on the number of arrests, only on the number of charges). The declining numbers permeate all aspects of the child justice system: there are fewer children in diversion programmes, fewer assessments and preliminary inquiries, and fewer children’s trials being held. The question as to why the numbers of children in contact with the law has shrunk so markedly is one issue that the study team exploring the implementation of the Act will attempt to answer.