This article charts the journey of civil society's engagement with the Child Justice Bill. The story begins with activism in the early 1980s, and tracks the reform efforts through various phases. The Bill was rewritten in Parliament in 2003, and it then fell off the parliamentary agenda. When it re-surfaced at Parliament in 2008 civil society lobbied hard for changes that would bring the Bill closer to the original intentions. An account is given of the gains and losses, and, all in all, th
In the midst of concerns about serious offences committed by young people, the Child Justice Act is the first formal legislative step to introduce restorative justice in South Africa, and promotes reconciliation and problem solving as an approach to the criminal behaviour of youth.This article analyses the new place of restorative justice and ubuntu in the Act through an analysis of the Preamble, Objects and General Principles sections of the Act as well as the chapters on diversion and sentencing. It notes that there is a clear and consistent framework for restorative justice and ubuntu in the Act that accords with the Constitutional Court’s understanding of both concepts.In addition, the article also enquires if the inclusion of these concepts has created a criminal justice system for children that does not hold them properly accountable for their actions. The question as to whether or not the Act has created a "just say sorry" regime is answered in the negative by way of reference to the numerous checks and balances included in the Act by the legislature.In this context it is contended that the inclusion of ubuntu-related ideologies remains relevant to the development of indigenous and locally constructed images of Africanised forms of justice, but that the true test of how it is integrated into the criminal justice system lies in the manner in which criminal justice role-players engage with ubuntu and how its implementation is effected.
Children who are accused of crimes in South Africa are governed by the same legislation as adults. The urgent need to develop a separate child justice system culminated in the release of the draft Child Justice Bill in 2000 by the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC). A product of thorough research and consultation, the revised Bill was introduced to parliament in August 2002. The changes made after public hearings and debates in parliament in 2003 saw the whittling away of the overall child rights nature of the Bill. To add insult to injury, the legislation has, since that year, not been debated again before the portfolio committee and the legislature has provided no explanation for this state of affairs.
The Act was extensively debated in Parliament in two discrete periods: in 2003, under the chairpersonship of Johnny de Lange, MP, then heading the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development; and later in 2008, under the helm of Yunis Carriem MP after the Bill had been redrafted and debates around the newly tabled provisions were in effect reopened .
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