The aim of this study was to critically examined the juvenile justice system with regard to the theory of restorative justice as a better alternative to the punitive system that recognizes the rights of children as human rights is in line with the convention on the rights of the child. This research looked at punishment as a penal option, which the court imposes on a person for committing a crime. By means of a case study with regards to the One Stop Youth Justice Centre in Port Elizabeth, this study argued that the restorative method of dealing with youth offenders is a better alternative in contrast to the punitive system.

The increased incidence of children committing crime and the realisation that the existing legislature dealing with offenders failed to cater for the rights and needs of child offenders gave rise to the introduction of the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008. This Act enables the South African criminal justice system to deal with children in a manner appropriate to their developmental stage. One of the initiatives introduced by the Act is termed ‘diversion’, where children are diverted from the criminal justice system into restorative developmental programmes, offered by organisations such as NICRO (National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders). Their parents or guardians are tasked with the responsibility of monitoring their compliance with the diversion order in terms of Section 24(5) of the aforementioned Act. The monitoring responsibility assigned to the parents of diverted adolescents prompted the research question and aim of this study, namely to explore parents’ experiences in monitoring their adolescents’ compliance with diversion orders and to identify service needs in supporting parents in fulfilling their role as stipulated in the Act. This was a qualitative study that was exploratory-descriptive and contextual in nature. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was employed to identify the parents or guardians of adolescents aged 14 to 17 years that had been diverted to NICRO between June 2011 and June 2012. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the selected parents, and the data collected was analysed using thematic data analysis. The trustworthiness of the research process and the findings was enhanced by employing a variety of data verification strategies. This research contributes to a greater understanding of parents’ monitoring experiences of their adolescents’ compliance with diversion orders. The study revealed that most parents experienced their role as an additional responsibility; they needed access to counseling and information on the child justice process.

The Child Justice Act 75 of 2008 has brought about some new elements in the South African Criminal Justice system in cases involving children in conflict with the law. The changes require that children in conflict with the law should be treated differently from adult accused persons. The Act is now regarded as a Criminal Procedure for children in conflict with the law. In other words the emphasis is on ensuring that children are diverted away from the formal Criminal Justice provided that children acknowledge responsibility. One of the elements that is introduced by the Act is the Preliminary Inquiry that is an informal, pre- trial procedure that must be held in respect of every child that is alleged to have committed an offence. The role of the Presiding Judicial Officer is very active during this stage because he is the one that takes charge of the proceedings and the role of the Prosecutor and the Legal Representative is very minimal. The purpose of the Preliminary Inquiry is in the main to determine whether a child in conflict with the law could be diverted if the provisions of section 52 (1) of the Act are complied with. Preliminary Inquiry if properly used will have possible benefits for the South African Criminal Justice system in that cases involving children will be timeously be finalised and the turn around time for criminal cases in general will possibly improve. Same will translate in the confidence of the citizens being improved in the Justice system. The second element that is introduced by the Act is formalised diversion into the Criminal Justice System. Diversion had for a number of years before the coming into operation of the Child Justice Act been used in South Africa but it was informal. The diversion that is envisaged by the Act is restorative in nature in that the Act seeks to involve the child offender, the victim, the community members to collectively identify and address harms, needs and obligations through accepting responsibility, making restitution, taking measures to prevent recurrence of the incident and promoting reconciliation. Restorative Justice is not a new invention in the South African legal system it is a return to traditional patterns of dealing with conflict and crime that had been present in different cultures throughout human history. Restorative Justice has been understood as Ubuntu in the African context. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission demonstrated the benefits of restorative justice in dealing with conflicts that had a potential of setting the country alight. Restorative Justice has evolved in South Africa throughout different historical epochs up to the current legal conjuncture. It has now been endorsed with success in precedent setting cases in the High Courts of the Republic and the Child Justice Act has now fully institutionalised it into the Criminal Justice system. One hopes that it will be extended beyond cases involving children in conflict with the law but to adult accused persons. Various pieces of legislation attempt to endorse the principles of restorative justice but are not as comprehensive as the Child Justice Act. There are 4 instances where a matter may be diverted in terms of the Act: (i) By a Prosecutor in terms of section 41; (ii) Diversion at Preliminary inquiry; (iii) Diversion before the closure of state case at trial; (iv) At any time during trial but before judgement. There are 2 diversion options that are provided by the Act that is level one diversion option in respect of schedule 1 offences and level 2 diversion options in respect of schedule 2 and 3 which are much more serious. The Act further entrenches Family Group Conference as well as Victim Offender Mediation which are restorative justice mechanisms. The legal consequences of diversion are that when the child has successfully complied is equivalent to an acquittal. The last element is the multi sectoral approach to crime fighting in that all role players should work together in dispensing justice to children in conflict with the law. The days of working in silos are now over because everybody has a role to play and there has to be collaboration at all levels. The Act entrenches the public private partnerships particularly in helping to rehabilitate and reintegrate children to society. The Act provides for the establishment of One Stop Child Justice Centres. The purpose is to promote cooperation between government departments, non governmental organisations and civil society to ensure integrated and holistic approach in the implementation of the Act. The Act further provides for the development of the National Policy Framework by the Departments of Justice and Constitutional Development, Social Development, Correctional Services, South African Police Services, Education and Health within 2 months of the commencement of the Act. The purpose is to ensure uniform, coordinated and cooperative approach by all government departments, organs of state and institutions in dealing with matters of child justice and enhance service delivery. This study seeks to examine the innovations brought about by the Child Justice Act into the South African Criminal Justice System. The study further explores the possible benefits that may accrue to the Criminal Justice System because of Preliminary Inquiry, Restorative Justice and the Multi Sectoral Approach to crime.

This study examined the impact of crime on socio-economic development in Mdantsane Township which is an urban area under Buffalo city Municipality. The study is concerned with the growing rate of crime, which is perceived to have affected community development. A survey was conducted for this study and questionnaires were administered for data collection. The study found that Mdantsane area is fraught with problems of high unemployment, high crime levels and lack of physical infrastructure. It was shown that the levels of crime like robbery and assault cases are the order of the day. Many crimes are committed either during the day or at night. This study made several recommendations relating to what should be done to ensure that local residents, potential developers and investors feel safe in Mdantsane. Amongst other recommendations put forward are the establishment of community relations with the police, namely community policing forums (CPFs) and development community safety centres.

No abstract available. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of Natal, Durban,2001.

As a restut of British colonization and their attempts to govern a variety of different cultures many nations now share a common bond in their criminal justice systems. This research focuses on the impact of some of those common bonds on the South African and United States criminal justice systems. Along with many national historical similarities there appears to be similarities in the approaches these two governments have taken to remedy criminal justice issues that arise. Political interference, lack of cooperation, poor communication skills, interagency discord and a lack of unified direction seem to plague both criminal justice systems. As a resulc both criminal justice systems appear: to be fragmented and in a constant state of flux. One solution that attempts to remedy the mistrust developed by individual citizens and their communities as a result of the fragmentation of their criminal justice system is community policing. Both nations are embarking on a concept that was proposed by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 when he espoused the ideal of Police, at all times, should maintain a relasionship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police. The fragmentation which causes many of the dilemmas faced by the criminal justice system appears to be a necessary element of any system that wishes to be able to grow and change with time. As we embark on the 21st century, globalization w1ll become a factor in every surviving national goverernment. South Africa and the United States appear co be positioning themselves to be active patcipants in this process / Criminology and Security Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Criminology)

Drug policy and the treatment of drug offenders' is an area that receives much attention worldwide. Because of the authorities' apparent inability to deal with this form of crime, it has universally been deemed necessary to look generally at the punishment of this category of offender and specifically at alternative methods to deal with these perpetrators. An extensive study of drug treatment approaches and models used by various countries merely highlights and emphasises the need for the creation and implementation of a suitable treatment modality for drug offenders. Other countries do not and cannot offer solutions to South Africa's dilemma in the handling of its large offender population. It is for this reason that the researcher has selected workable aspects from various systems in a multidimensional and multidisciplinary management approach to the handling of drug offenders in the South African context. The researcher utilises certain components of the systems theory to describe the manner in which the criminal justice system processes drug offenders. For this purpose, the researcher uses the systems theory as a framework for the application of the drug model that takes place on all levels within the criminal justice system. The researcher aims to use existing drug policy to form the basis of the drug model, and sets structural and procedural guidelines for dealing with this category of offender. The researcher furthermore calls for the implementation of such a model. / Corrections Management / D.Litt. et Phil. (Penology)

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree: Masters of Laws LLM by Dissertation (Research) LAWS8002 Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management - School of Law University of Witwatersrand, 2017 / Inmates’ rights are of utmost importance in shaping a democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom. The State cannot unjustifiably infringe on inmates’ rights and continue to play an active role in exacerbating correctional centre conditions. This study is of significance in confronting the reality of the plight of inmates’ rights violations in a country that is plagued with crime and scepticism towards acknowledging inmates’ rights. The dissertation offers a critical analysis of the impact of South Africa’s correctional centre conditions on inmates’ human rights in a constitutional democracy. The study unlocks three key correctional centre conditions that impact on inmates’ rights. These three correctional centre conditions have been identified as overcrowding, gangsterism and sexual violence, and access to healthcare facilities. In delving deeper into each of the aforementioned correctional centre conditions, international, regional and statutory instruments were examined. Thus, the dissertation also considered the extent of South Africa’s compliance with its international human rights and constitutional obligations to protect and enforce inmates’ rights. The study has investigated the State’s accountability in relation to South Africa’s infringement on inmates’ rights. This endeavour was realised by tracing trends and statistics from State reports. An enquiry into ground-breaking case law addressing the impact of correctional centre conditions on inmates’ rights demonstrated the need for, inter alia, Constitutional Court litigation as a form of recourse for inmates and emphasised the State’s responsibility to prohibit the cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment of inmates. The dissertation has observed that over a period of 20 years of democracy, South Africa’s correctional centre conditions have severely impacted on inmates’ rights directly and indirectly. It concludes that firstly, the primary problem of overcrowding is a global phenomenon and that there is no single solution to fully eradicate its spiralling consequences. Overcrowding infringes on inmates’ foundational rights - rights to accommodation, fair trial, food and privacy. Secondly, the impact of gangsterism and sexual violence in South African correctional centres has severely infringed on inmates’ rights and case law evidences that this correctional centre condition has been 6 ruled as cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment by the United Nations Human Rights Committee. This study observes that the incidence of rape in correctional centres is a common practice and there is a greater risk of transmission of communicable diseases. In the treatment of these communicable diseases, an inmate is dependent on State healthcare facilities. Thirdly, the dissertation concludes that there have been specific instances where there was limited or no access to healthcare facilities which infringed on an inmates’ right to healthcare and life. In this regard, the Constitutional Court has held the State accountable for the infringement of an inmate’s right to access healthcare facilities. Therefore, this dissertation clearly illustrates that South Africa does not comply with its international, regional and domestic obligations. Practical recommendations for reform of South Africa’s correctional centre conditions are then offered so as to prevent the infringement of inmates’ human rights. / XL2018

Thesis (DTech. degree in Policing)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / A qualitative research design, using the research technique of interviews with indirect observation, was adopted for this study. A total of twenty (20) crime prevention practitioners in the criminal justice structures of Nigeria and South Africa were interviewed for the purpose of data gathering. The interview questions were standardised but open-ended. The main findings are the following: At present, none of the criminal justice institutions in Nigeria and South Africa can prevent crime. Long term crime prevention is presently not possible in Nigeria and South Africa as the root causes of crime in the two countries lie outside the control of the criminal justice systems. The root causes of crime in the two countries were identified as being, among others, dysfunctional family settings, a history of violence, accessibility and availability of criminological commodities, real need and poverty, inequality among the population groups, greed on the part of those that have, and poor leadership. The main recommendation is as follows: The governments of Nigeria and South Africa need to focus their attention on the root causes of crime and not only on the criminal justice institutions.

Diversion is one of the programmes instituted within the Child Justice System. Its aim is to make punishment more rehabilitative and restorative. Prior to the Child Justice Bill, juvenile offenders were prosecuted under the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA). In the absence of any provision and consideration for children and their context, the CPA proved to be too harsh when prosecuting juvenile offenders. It is within this context that the need for reform of the CPA was sought, a search for procedure which would solely deal with child offenders and which would be more suited to child offenders. In an attempt to explore this process, the present study investigates diversion as a programme designed for dealing with child offenders within the Child Justice System and perspectives of deviance which underlie diversion. Broadly, the focus of the research has been on the following issues: how the probation officers interpret the different criteria from the Child Justice Bill 70 of 2003 and subsequently the Child Justice Bill 70 of 2007 in order to select the most appropriate form of diversion, understanding of the Child Justice System, how this justice system works and what the justice personnel look for when deciding on an appropriate sentence for the juvenile offender. The research was carried out in South Africa, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, in a small town known as Port Shepstone, which is an hour s drive from Durban. It gives an in - depth analysis of diversion by explaining the perceptions and opinions of justice personnel on diversion. The thesis further explored the criteria that are used by the probation officers in assessing the juvenile offender for diversion and the nature of the diversion programme selected. Using a qualitative approach I sought to explore different discursive practices, opinions and perspectives within the Child Justice System and particularly within the diversion programme. In an attempt to gain understanding on the above issues, I conducted open - ended interviews with Child Justice System personnel, probation officers and prosecutors.