1 The Inter-sectoral Implementation of the Child Justice Act Presented to the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development 23 October 2013

KEY FOCUS AREAS 2 Purpose of the presentation Background and overview; Governance structures; Achievements on Key Priority Areas Limitations New Developments

Purpose of the Presentation 3  To give a brief overview of the progress in the intersectoral implementation of the Child Justice Act, which reflects on the achievements & limitations recorded during the 3rd year of the implementation; and  To give a comparison analysis of intersectoral performance, mainly in the past 2 years of implementation

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW: 4  The Child Justice Act, 2008 came into effect on 1 April 2010, mainly to introduce a child justice system that ensures that children are treated in a manner that takes account of their age, as required by section 28 of the Constitution.  The Act provides for special measures to divert children in conflict with the law from the mainstream of CJS to the child justice system that is capacitated to assist them to break from the cycle of crime so as to mature into law- abiding and productive citizens.  s96 (3) of the Act requires the Minister to table in Parliament the Annual Progress Reports received from: Dept of Justice and Constitutional Development; National Prosecuting Authority; SAPS, Dept of Correctional Services; Dept of Social Services; Dept of Education; and Dept of Health

GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES 5 Director General's ISCCJ (meets twice a year) National Operational ISCCJ (meets monthly) Gauteng Child Justice Forum Limpopo Child Justice Forum Mpumalanga Child Justice Forum KwaZulu Natal Child Justice Forum Western Cape Child Justice Forum Free State Child Justice Forum Northern Cape Child Justice Forum North West Child Justice Forum IMC

KEY PRIORITY AREAS OF REPORTING 6  Building capacity in the sector;  Ensuring assessments of children;  Preliminary enquiries;  Sentencing;  Provision of Diversion and Alternative Sentencing Services;  Establishment of Child and Youth Care Centres;  Establishment of One Stop Child Justice Centres;  Resources and Budget;  Public Education and Communication;  Development of Necessary IT and IJS Systems to support Information Management

Building Skills Capacity (All reporting stakeholders) personnel of all reporting stakeholders were trained in 2012/2013 to bring the total no of personnel trained since 2010 to personnel of all reporting stakeholders were trained in 2012/2013 to bring the total no of personnel trained since 2010 to

Building Skills Capacity 8 Department/ InstitutionNo of Personnel Trained 2010/ / /2013TOTAL DoJ&CD: Magistrates, Clerks of Court, Prosecutors SAPS NPA DCS DSD DBE 53-- LEGAL AID SA TOTAL

Infrastructural Capacity 9 INFRASTRUCTUREDOJ&CD and DSD 2010/ / /2013TOTAL DoJ&CD: One Stop Child Justice Centres (OSCJC) Eastern Cape (Port Elizabeth)= 01 Free State (Bloemfontein) = 01 North West (Klerksdorp) = 01 Nenira OSCJCMangaung OSCJC Matlosana OSCJC 03 D SD: Child and Youth Care Facilities – s 29 (detention) & s 76 (sentence of compulsory residence) Fully operational28- Under construction (carried over) 02 Total30 Bed Capacity

Reduction in the bed capacity in Secure Care Facilities  The Minimum Norms and Standards requires each Secure Care to have a bed capacity of 60 to 120 beds, depending on the size of the infrastructure and the resource capacity. This is to avoid overcrowding. DSD has put mechanisms in place to ensure compliance with the Minimum Norms and Standards and this exercise resulted in the reduction of the bed capacity. 10

Establishment of OSCJC  Section 89 regulates the establishment of OSCJC.  One (1) OSCJC was established during 2012/2013.  Due to the lack of existing buildings that can be converted into OSCJC, and other practical challenges, the Dept has initiated a process of conducting a viability study on the continued establishment of OSCJC’s.  On the 14 Oct 13, the OPS ISCCJ conducted a workshop to explore challenges on the intersectoral establishment and management of OSCJC’s, and drafted a baseline document for the viability study. 11

Assessments of Children 12 Assessments increased from to TOTAL NUMBER OF CHILD ASSESSMENTS PERIOD: 2010/2011 TO 2012/ / / / TOTAL=

Innovations between SAPS & DSD There are some factors and corrective measures introduced by SAPS and DSD that contributed in the increased number of children assessed: No of charges against children decreased from in 2011/12 to in 2012/13; Local service agreements have been introduced between Police stations and Probation officers to outline operational commitments that expedites the management of children on a 24 hour basis; A Directory of Local Designated Probation Officers was developed by DSD, and made available to every local police station;

CONT: Innovations between SAPS & DSD An electronic information system is currently available which allows DSD to be informed via system-generated of all children who should be assessed. However, efforts are in progress to improve this system by incorporating an acknowledgement functionality of the sent to DSD. (DSD has to develop the system for the full solution via service oriented architecture)

Preliminary Inquiries 15 PRELIMINARY INQUIRIES CONDUCTED DURING 2012/2013NUMBER Preliminary Inquiries conducted Number of preliminary inquiries referred to the children’s court3 856 Number of preliminary inquiries referred to child justice court for trial Preliminary Inquiries conducted over 3 years 2010/ / /2013 Preliminary Inquiries conducted Percentage increase since 2010/ %43%

Referrals to the Children’s Courts  In terms of s50 of the Act the inquiry magistrate may stop the proceedings and order that the child be brought before a children’s court if it appears that the child is in need of care and protection or if the child is alleged to have committed a minor offence aimed at meeting the child’s basic needs for food and warmth. 16

Legal Aid Services in Preliminary Inquiries 17 Legal Aid services were offered in of the preliminary inquiries conducted in 2012/2013

Legal Aid Services  The Act does not make it peremptory for children to be legally represented during the preliminary inquiry.  However, Legal Aid SA provides legal aid services in all cases where it is deemed necessary for the child to be assisted at preliminary inquiry stage of the proceedings.  There are no dedicated practitioners to assist with preliminary inquiries yet. 18

Diversions Increase of diversion cases in Year 3

Increase in the number of diversions One of the central features of the new criminal justice system established for children through the implementation of the Act, is the creation of the possibility of diverting matters involving children in conflict with the law away for the criminal justice system. An increase in the number of diversions is therefore an important step in achieving one of the overall aims of the Act. 20

Summary of Accredited Diversion Service Providers and Programmes 21

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Sentencing: Objectives (s69)  Ensure accountability for the harm caused;  Promote an individualised response that strikes a balance between: the circumstances of the child; the nature of the offence; the interests of society.  Promote reintegration of child into family & community  Provide guidance, supervision, treatment or services towards integration 23

Sentences Imposed on Children Type of Sentence2010/ / /2013TOTAL Community-based sentences Restorative justice sentences Fines or alternatives to fines 3437Fines= Alt to fines= 44 Sub-total = 78 Correctional supervision Compulsory residence in a child and youth care centre Postponement or suspension of passing of sentence Not available yet 296 Total of non-custodial sentences Imprisonment

Sentences Imposed on Children  There is a growing achievement of the goals of the Act, which primarily promotes the imposition of non-custodial sentences instead of imprisonment sentences. Since 2010, a total number of non- custodial sentences were imposed on children.  There has also been a significant drop in the number of children sentenced to imprisonment since 2010/2011 to 2012/2013 – from 536 to 98 25

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Public Education and Communication Initiatives  Radio Broadcast Campaign – DoJ & CD in partnership with NPA and SAPS. Information about the Act. Broadcasted on 65 radios stations.  NPA participated in a Special Assignment programme on TV – mainly focusing on diversions. The aim was to highlight to the public that diversion is not a soft option for child offenders. 27

Public Education and Communication Initiatives  In November 2012, another radio panel discussion on the Child Justice Act was conducted where GCIS connected analysts with 8 radio stations. Listeners from all these stations were able to call in and have their questions answered.  Between October and November 2012, NPA staff members participated in the NPA/GCIS radio campaign coordinated by the Communications Unit, wherein radio station interviews were conducted covering different topics in the criminal justice system (CJS), one of which was the Act. 28

Departmental IT & Integrated Information Justice System DepartmentInformation SystemPurpose DoJ&CD ICMS Child JusticeHas above 80 fields to capture the Dept’s & NPA data DSD Probation Case Management Accreditation of Diversion System Child assessments & Diversion accreditations Legal Aid SA Ad infinitumCapturing of cases logged & reports generated therefrom SAPS OPAM – enhancements to system currently being implemented Capture the info of cases involving children under 10, details of referral IJS Systems SAPS-IJS- DoJ&CD/NPA Pre-Adjudication Docket Integration Charge Sheet Notification Postponement Date Integration SAPS sent up to Docket Ready Notifications to NPA (all cases) Postponement Date Notification SAPS-IJS-LASALegal Aid Request NotificationOperational in 120 SAPS facilities SAPS-IJS-DSDArrest Notification (Probation Officers)Notifies probation officers of arrest of a child for assessment purposes. DCSAdmission and Release system Community Corrections System Capturing of warrants and other detention issues Capturing of all those placed under non-custodial system 29

KEY LIMITATIONS 30 DepartmentLimitationCorrective Measures DoJ&CDNo existing govt owned buildings suitable for conversion into OSCJC’s Viability study in a process of being conducted; Draft amendment of the NPF produced, but will be finalized as soon as the findings of the viability study are established; Draft Amendment of the National Guidelines will be finalized as soon as the viability study is completed. DoHSerious shortage of psychiatrists & psychologists to determine child’s criminal capacity (s11); as a result the DoH relies on 54 private clinical psychologists & 32 private psychiatrists, who charge the DoJ&CD beyond policy rates As an interim measure, DoJ&CD is in a process of securing additional funds for courts DBENot all Reform schools & Schools of industry have been transferred from DBE to DSD Legislative amendments are required to allow the proposed transfers

KEY LIMITATIONS 31 DepartmentLimitationCorrective Measures IJSThe fully integrated electronic inter- sectoral data collection system is progressively developed 4 systems are in the process of being integrated into the IJS system DCSDifficulties in providing formal education to Remand Detainee Children because almost 90% spend less than 6 months in detention and most children have never been to school Determination of the model that can be utilized to ensure that education is provided

Amendments to the Act  Amendments to the Act were included in the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill B7 of  The Bill was approved by the Portfolio Committee on 2 October Some of the amendments gives effect to the Constitutional Court’s order in the matter Centre for Child Law v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and others 2009(2)SACR447(CC). 32

33 THANK YOU