Children are often required to testify viva voce in criminal trials. The question arises whether children understand what is communicated to them during their testimony in court. In the courtroom, the witness serves as a source of information. In child abuse cases in particular, the meaningful participation of the child in court proceedings is crucial due to the fact that the child is often the key witness, or the only witness, for the prosecution. The proper evaluation of the child’s evidence, however, requires that all role-players involved in the judicial process have a sound knowledge of those aspects which deal with child psychology, especially the cognitive and language abilities of children who testify. The procedure that is followed in court is not understood by the ordinary lay person, even less by children, and the language used is formalistic and very specialized. Legal language in general often contains cognitively and linguistically inappropriate questions which prevent children from relating their stories. Furthermore their responses do not sufficiently reflect their knowledge and experience of the incident of alleged sexual assault. Court language creates serious problems for children and accordingly prevents them from being effective witnesses and taking part in the judicial process in a meaningful way. The researcher, in her capacity as a Regional Court Magistrate, realized that children have limited understanding of the criminal trial process and often become secondary victims as a result of a system that does not acknowledge their cognitive and linguistic developmental levels. The purpose of this research was therefore to test the validity of the following hypotheses: • During the examination of children in a criminal trial developmentally and linguistically inappropriate questions are posed to them; and This results in ineffective communication. Eight court transcripts of criminal cases heard in the regional courts of the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga by different presiding officers were chosen at random. These transcripts were analyzed and evaluated in order to determine whether questions posed to children when they testify are cognitively and linguistically appropriate. Each question in each of the eight transcripts was numbered and analyzed. The findings of the analysis were categorized in terms of whether they were cognitively and linguistically inappropriate questions. It was clear that the majority of questions put to the child witnesses were cognitively and linguistically inappropriate. It is evident from the evaluation that the manner in which the children’s evidence in court was presented and the way in which they were questioned created a communication barrier which placed a distorted version of events before the court. It is therefore recommended that full account be taken of the cognitive and language capabilities of each particular child in order to elicit reliable information during the child’s testimony. It is of the utmost importance that questioning be conducted in such a fashion so as to ensure that the child witness understands not only the content of the questions, but also what answers or responses are expected from them. At present, acknowledgement of linguistic and cognitive developmental appropriateness, concern and comprehension for the psychology of the child witness are ignored at best, and totally exploited at worst. This lack of knowledge about child development impacts adversely upon the child’s credibility in court. To elevate and enhance the credibility of children, it is of the utmost importance for society in general and court role-players in particular to appreciate the various stages and faces of child development. The main recommendation is that court role-players should make a paradigm shift and children, including victims of sexual assault, should be given the opportunity to tell their own stories in their own language supported by other methods of communication. In evaluating any possible changes, it is necessary to adopt and develop a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach based on scientific principles. A specialized system is required to deal with children in the criminal justice system and innovative methods to achieve this are necessary. There is a strong need to change or adjust the present manner in which the criminal justice system accommodates child witnesses. Such a change or adjustment will be in the best interests of children as envisaged in section 28 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act.

The South African Constitution provides that a child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child. This principle emanates from the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). Accordingly the State and its various departments have adopted and are enforcing legislation and policies in defence of the child’s best interest. The principle of the best interest of the child is seldom observed in most of our schools. Incidents of child abuse are on the increase, especially by educators. This unfortunate situation prevails against the backdrop of legislation which condemns these atrocities. Section 17 of the Employment of Educators Act1 provides that educators must be discharged if they are found guilty of, inter alia, sexual abuse, intimate relationship with a learner and assault with grievous bodily harm. These measures have been taken to combat the vicious cycle of child abuse in schools and to advance children’s-rights agenda and the universal principle of the child’s best interests. For the department to successfully prosecute educator cases against child abuse, the testimony of a child witness is crucial. However, it is shocking to discover that the interests of the child witness are not always served in these disciplinary hearings. Officials are prone to be biased towards their fellow professionals at the expense of the interest of the child witness. This situation normally arises probably as a result of a lack of professional capacity because most of these officials tasked with disciplining educators have a teaching, human-resource or legal qualification. Others may have been recruited from the ranks of the trade-union movement without any formal qualification. Secondly, they may be specialists in the field of labour law which is essentially concerned with the regulating the employer and employee relationship. Thirdly, the disciplinary code and procedures that are used during educator-disciplinary processes are premised on the principles and values of the Labour 1 Act 76 of 1998. Relations Act Code of Good Practice: Dismissal2 and Schedule 2 of the Employment of Educators Act3 which addresses the interest of the child witness to a very limited extend. Finally, the policies regulating workplace discipline are generally biased towards employee rights as espoused in the Labour Relations Act4 and CCMA guidelines on misconduct arbitrations. This study has identified a number of challenges confronting the child witness and also areas of capacity improvement on the side of officials officiating over the disciplinary cases of educators. These challenges form the basis for a comprehensive and consolidated list of aspects in which officials need to be trained to effectively promote and defend the interest of the child witness in a professional manner. The role of the departmental representative in becoming the champions of the democratic Constitution and the vanguard of the child’s best interest cannot be over-emphasised. The question of how best to serve the best interest of the child witness has been addressed. The child witness can be a credible witness provided officials win over his or her confidence to speak out against abuse. The 16 days of activism against women and children abuse has to resonate consciously with departmental officials.

With over twenty thousand complaints reported annually to police of child sexual abuse in South Africa, specialist police nvestigators are practised at taking statements from child complainants. This thesis analyses the fit between actualpolice practice and that recommended by international best practice. Children are a special class of witness because of their inherent social, emotional, and cognitive immaturity, and they are universally acknowledged to be very difficult witnesses to interview without the interviewer lending a bias to the process and thereby contaminating the outcome. The first half of the thesis therefore provides a detailed account of the research basis of current international best practice and of the hallmarks of that best practice which result in reliable interview outcomes. The second half of the thesis presents a descriptive analysis of 100 police statements taken from children in the Eastern Cape who had been raped in the period between 2010 and 2012. The findings of the analysis are presented in detail and then compared to the best practice summarised from the international research.

For the purpose of this study tbe child witness in the accusatorial system will be viewed as a source of information. When a witness gives evidence in court, the function of the witness is to provide the court with certain information. A number of crucial questions arise when the witness is a child. Do children bave the ability to remember and relate an event accurately? Are children prone to suggestion and fantasy? What effect, if any, does the court environment have on a child 's ability to convey information? What perceptions do children have about the legal process, and how do these perceptions affect their ability to testify? Do adults influence the information which children impart by the techniques they employ to obtain such information? Accepting the hypothesis that child witnesses are sources of information, the purpose of this study is to evaluate all aspects of the criminal justice system relating to child witnesses as well as available research on children to determine whether it is possible to obtain reliable and accurate information from children. Proposals will be formulated regarding the most successful methods of obtaining reliable and accurate information from children, and how these can be adapted for use by the legal system. The purpose of the study is to develop an approach to children in the legal system that will be fair to children while at the same time protecting the rights of the accused, and which will lead to a successful method of obtaining accurate information.

In South Africa children are required to testify under oath or admonition. The shortcomings of the competency test are of particular relevance to children with developmental disabilities, since courts are not equipped to adequately assess the competency of these children to give evidence. One component of testimonial competency, namely the understanding of the concepts truth and lies, is overemphasised and is examined with questions that are developmentally inappropriate for child witnesses in general. For children with cognitive disabilities, such questions create barriers for participation in the truth-seeking process. Consequently, convictions have been set aside on appeal owing to procedural irregularities found in the implementation of this test. In the literature review on testimonial competency, attention was given to restrictions that specific developmental disabilities impose on the perceptual, cognitive, communication and moral development of children. Two of four components – narrative ability and moral capacity – were studied in a sample of 184 children in middle childhood. Participants’ ability to give coherent and detailed accounts of events, their understanding of the concepts truth, lies, promises and the oath, and the Lyon and Saywitz oath-taking competency test, were investigated. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data analysis. Three groups were identified: those children with very limited, average or full testimonial competency. Their capacities were found to be related to maturation of cognitive functions and level of intellectual functioning. Participants were better able to demonstrate their understanding of truth and falsity by responding to the oathtaking test than giving verbal descriptions of these concepts. Whereas 1 percent of participants had a conceptual understanding of an oath, 15 percent understood the concept of a promise. Syncretism and confabulation compromised the narrative accounts of a substantial number of participants. Syncretism relates to immature narrative ability: correct details are combined in an illogical fashion. Confabulation refers to filling memory gaps with fabricated information. Guidelines on the competency determination of children with developmental disabilities were compiled. It is suggested that the competency examination be replaced by a formal, pre-trial competency assessment. The court should also receive expert evidence on how to facilitate meaningful participation when a child with sufficient testimonial competence is the witness.

Thesis (M Social Work (Social Work))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This research concentrates on the development of guidelines for the social worker who works with the sexual abused adolescent that is involved in the court. The research was executed according to the quantitative descriptive design. The first part (Chapter 2, 3 & 4) focus on the problem analysis and information gathering linked to the development of a theoretical stage for the develop of guidelines. Adolescence as developmental stage is discussed and suggestions are made as to how this information can be used by the social worker during the preparation of the child that is involved in the court. Different forms and consequences of sexual abuse are discussed. The law system and testimony are discussed as well as the process and problems that occur in the law system. The second part of the research (Chapter 5 & 6) is related to conducting of a pilot study and the results of the empirical research are presented (A questionnaire was handed to twenty respondents). The focus is on the problems and needs of the sexually abused adolescent. The study concludes with conclusions and recommendations. Recommendations for the social worker as well as the court system that work on a daily basis with sexually abused children have been outlined. These recommendations can be used as a support for effective service delivery.

Text in Afrikaans / This study is about the provision of a prototype court preparation programme for the primary school child that had been sexually assaulted. The programme is developed from a Gestalt approach. Literature regarding several existing court preparation programmes was studied and compared in order to identify certain themes for the child's preparation. Knowledge regarding the court, procedures and the functions of the various role players was conveyed to the child with emphasis on the child's role as witness. The research strategy utilised in the study was that of the intervention research and specifically the D&D-model that comprises six phases. The study incorporates the first three phases plus the first step of the fourth phase. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were utilised to establish which themes could be addressed to support the child towards being a credible witness. These themes are summarised in the court preparation programme and are addressed from the Gestalt approach. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Spelterapie)

Text in Afrikaans / This study is about the provision of a prototype court preparation programme for the primary school child that had been sexually assaulted. The programme is developed from a Gestalt approach. Literature regarding several existing court preparation programmes was studied and compared in order to identify certain themes for the child's preparation. Knowledge regarding the court, procedures and the functions of the various role players was conveyed to the child with emphasis on the child's role as witness. The research strategy utilised in the study was that of the intervention research and specifically the D&D-model that comprises six phases. The study incorporates the first three phases plus the first step of the fourth phase. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were utilised to establish which themes could be addressed to support the child towards being a credible witness. These themes are summarised in the court preparation programme and are addressed from the Gestalt approach. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Spelterapie)

Prior to 1990, very few countries in the world offered special protection to child witnesses interfacing with the justice system. There were no legal provisions permitting testimonial accommodations for children in court. The courtroom experience was significantly traumatic for the children. With the international focus shifting from protecting and upholding the rights of the accused in the courtroom towards a more victim-centred approach, various international and regional instruments have strongly dvocated that children deserve special protection because of their vulnerability. In order for the courts to be able to elicit accurate evidence from the child without further traumatizing the child, research has shown that the child needs assistance. An intermediary may be defined as a person who facilitates communication between the child and the courtroom in a manner that takes into account the child‟s cognitive and developmental limitations. The thesis was prompted by the need to make a contribution to the currently limited body of literature on the intermediary systems in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia by investigating how the systems can be improved and sustained in a way that helps to protect the child witness in court. Despite the problems the South African courts have had in identifying the appropriate interpretation of its intermediary legislation, the country emerges as a clear leader for the steps it took by creating a positive legal framework within which child protection issues are addressed and introducing the concept of the intermediary. This concept proved to be an inspiration to its neighbours, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The influence of the South African intermediary legislation is evident in the Namibian and Zimbabwean legislation. Although Namibian legislators have drafted laws that permit intermediary assistance in court, there are as yet no intermediaries appointed. In Ethiopia, although there is no discernible intermediary legislation, the country has managed to establish an intermediary system. As a result of the analysis conducted, it is evident that the efficacy of the intermediary system is dependent on the presence of an enabling legislation, its clarity and ease of interpretation, the sensitisation of court role players on child vulnerabilities, the significance of intermediary assistance, and finally a government's commitment towards the implementation process.

The South African Justice System is a broader system that brings law and order to society. This law and order also includes the constitutional rights of the sexually abused children. A special court dealing with cases of children who are sexually abused is functioning throughout the country. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework for social workers working with children in these special courts. The problem identified is that in these courts no framework exists for social workers focusing on the guidance of the child through the processes of the Justice System. This includes the therapeutic guidance by means of brief or directive therapy. The research methodology for this study focused on developmental research by using the Intervention research model of Rothman and Thomas (1994). The phases implemented in the study were Problem analysis and project planning, information gathering and synthesis and design. Qualitative data was gathered by means of semi-structured interviews and integrated in phase two of the research report. A proto-type guideline was developed and needs to be evaluated in future research. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play Therapy)