The Child Justice Alliance

Find out about the Centre for Child Law's submission on the NCOP amendments, October 2008

5 September: The Security & Constitutional Affairs Select Committee adopted the Child Justice Bill

25 June 2008: The National Assembly has passed the Child Justice Bill! Download the NA's version of the Bill. The Bill still has to go to the NCOP, and then back to the National Assembly. It is expected that the Bill will be passed by the end of the year.

23 June 2008: The final Committee Report on the Child Justice Bill is available.

May 2008: Detailed reports of the current deliberations on the Child Justice Bill that have been held in the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development thus far are available here. These reports are used with permission from the Parliamentary Monitoring Group.

February 2008:Download the various written submissions on the latest version of the Child Justice Bill and keep abreast of the issues raised in this Cabinet version. The public hearings will be taking place on Tuesday, 5th February, in the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development where these submissions will be presented to the members of parliament.

January 2008:The latest version (Cabinet version) of the Child Justice Bill [B49-2002] is now available. Written submissions on this latest verion is due on Wednesday, 30 January 2008. Public hearings will be held on Tuesday, 5 February 2008. Read the Press Release, issued by the Chairperson of the Justice & Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee (Please ignore the dates in the formal press release. Dates to act on - written submissions: 30 January 2008 & Public Hearings: 5 February 2008. Please contact Jacqui Gallinetti should you require clarity.)

A debate on Young Offenders was held on SAfm's After Eight Debate on 14 February 2007. Dr Ann Skelton, Co-ordinator of the Child Litigation Project for the Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria and Dr Don Pinnock , a criminologist and journalist were part of the debate. Download this radio debate, used with permission from SABC, who retains copyright and all other rights to this material. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior consent of the SABC.

The Child Justice Alliance, in conjunction with the Open Society Foundation of South Africa, has published the Conference Report, Child Justice in South Africa: Children's Rights Under Construction soon. This publication encapsulates the range of discussion and debates that occurred during the conference that had taken place in August 2006. The keynote speaker was Professor Jaap Doek, Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Article 40, a lay journal, has been in existance since 1999. Many of the articles deal with the Child Justice Bill, as well as general child justice issues. Download the various issues of this journal.

Detailed reports of the briefings, public hearings and deliberations that have been held in the Parliamentary Committee thus far are available here. These reports are used with permission from the Parliamentary Monitoring Group.

Download Fact Sheets on important issues surrounding the Child Justice Bill. These include:

- Why do we need the Child Justice Bill?
- What are the issues around the Age of the Child?
- What does the Child Justice Bill expect of the Police?
- What about Child Sex Offenders?
- What is Restorative Justice? Will it work in South Africa?
And so much more ...