Child bill gets green light

2008-06-23 20:25

Cape Town - The National Assembly's justice committee on Monday approved the child justice bill aimed at protecting children who have committed criminal offences.

The measure, tabled in Parliament as far back as 2002, provides guidelines on how children who break the law should be dealt with in terms of the law.

Central to the intention of the bill is the diversion of child offenders away from the criminal justice system, where they could be imprisoned.

According to the measure, children who are 10 years and younger are deemed to minors and can not be prosecuted, while those between the ages of 10 and 14 had to be thoroughly evaluated by social workers before a decision to prosecute them was made.

Age limits stay the same

African Christian Democratic Party MP Steve Swart described the measure as a "useful piece of legislation" that would go a long way into preventing children, particularly first offenders, from being sent to prison.

In their submissions to the committee in February, children-rights organisations called for the measure to be amended so that children under the age of 14, irrespective of the seriousness of the offence they might have committed, could be exempted from prosecution.

The organisations also demanded the age at which children could be legally held responsible for committing crimes be increased to 12.

However, the final draft of the measure approved by the committee ignored these calls.

Children over 10 who have committed serious offences such as rape and murder, under the committee's final version, will face the full might of the law unless the National Director of Prosecutions directs otherwise.

Committee chairperson Yunus Carrim said MPs had to strike a balance between protecting the rights of children and those of victims.

"The committee sought to find a balance between the constitutional rights of child offenders and the rights of victims of crime and the need to ensure the community's safety and security," he said.

Despite the long delay in processing the measure, Carrim said the committee was impressed with the final product.

Now goes before NCOP

"We would like to think that the delays have contributed to ensuring better legislation.

"It is certainly the outcome of considerable negotiations with a wide range of stakeholders, and there is now substantial consensus on the bill between Parliament, the executive and civil society," he said.

The measure will now be forwarded to the National Council of Provinces for consideration.

- SAPA