NGO welcomes Child Justice Amendment Bill

The Centre for Child Law has welcomed the Child Justice Amendment Act, which has increased the minimum age of criminal capacity of children who have committed an offence from 10 to 12-years-old. According to a report on the IoL site, the Act was gazetted on 4 June and the centre said it was significant that this happened during Child Protection Week. It said this recognised the fact that children alleged to have committed offences needed protection and support to enable their rehabilitation. As reported in Legalbrief Today, the new age of criminal capacity means that children up to 12-years-old lack criminal capacity and cannot be arrested for committing an offence. The centre applauded the move as it places SA within international standards. Spokesperson Zita Hansungule explained that practically this change to the law meant that a child who committed an offence while under the age of 12 did not have criminal capacity and therefore should not be taken through the criminal justice system. The Child Justice Act previously stated that a child under the age of 10 who had a run-in with the law did not have criminal capacity and thus could not be prosecuted.