Freedom in the Making
Freedom in the Making
Juvenile Justice in South Africa
This chapter traces the ideological and operational impact of the transition from apartheid to democratic rule in South African juvenile courts. It demonstrates that the child-saving movement had its followers in colonial South Africa. It recounts valiant reform efforts in the Union era, followed by the bleak downward spiral of the apartheid years. It depicts the struggle for justice by children in the Soweto uprising, later continued by activists as South Africa was preparing for the first democratic elections in 1994. The Bill of Rights contained in the South African Constitution (1996) has given rise to important judgments confirming the rights of children in the criminal justice system. In 2010, the Child Justice Act of 2008 came into operation. The chapter describes its aims and mechanisms and offers an early analysis of its operation. The picture is sketched against the broader canvas of South Africa's harsh realities as a country that emerged strongly from its transition but is currently laboring under immense poverty and inequality, as well as failures in education and other systemic failures.
Keywords: South African juvenile courts, juvenile justice system, youth justice, apartheid, children's rights, Child Justice Act 2008
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