The book presents the aims and objectives of the Act and then explains the difference between adversarial and inquisitorial criminal procedure, which is relevant to preliminary inquiries. The authors examine the role played in the child justice process by members of the South African Police Service, the National Prosecuting Authority, probation officers, the court of preliminary inquiry, the child justice court and correctional services
Children's rights are now enshrined in the South African constitution, and lip service is regularly paid to them, but how effectively are they implemented? From research undertaken by the Centre for Socio-Legal Research over the last twenty years, the question has increasingly arisen of how much use such rights are on paper if the systems charged with ensuring their implementation are inadequate for the task. Possibly even more important, it has become evident that it is not enough to make 'the best interests of the child' the touch-stone for legal and welfare decisions on children, if the individuals charged with those decisions have little training -- or ready access to expertise -- in child development or the realities of a fast-changing country of many cultures. Decisions that radically affect children's futures -- whether custody decisions on divorce, fostering, children's home, adoption placements, or juvenile court decisions -- have life-long consequences. But there is also little hard evidence of what is influencing such decisions in practice, nor how decision-making for South African children can be improved. This book is the result of an attempt to remedy some of these gaps. It presents the evidence from an interdisciplinary collaborative project set up to research how legal decisions on children are being made in the new South Africa, and how children's rights are faring in practice in a variety of relevant settings.
The year 2014 marks 20 years of democracy for South Africa. Children born in 1994, at the start of democracy, are now 20 years old and entering the next phase of their lives as young adults. It is a good moment to take stock of South Africa's progress in realising childrenʹs rights.
This book examines the impact of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on national and international jurisprudence, since its adoption in 1989. It offers state of the art knowledge on the functions, challenges and limitations of the CRC in domestic, regional and international children’s rights litigation.
The second edition of Child Law in South Africa provides insight into the profound impact of recent legislative changes and developments in the associated regulatory frameworks, the judicial interpretation of ground-breaking case law, and the latest research findings in child law in South Africa. The work that has been done at an international level is also incorporated as far as possible within the confines of the topics addressed in this publication
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