Inter-sectoral Plan for the Monitoring of the Child Justice System.

This plan has been developed through a consultative process including national and provincial workshops with stake-holders.

1.1 Current situation

A National Inter-Sectoral Child Justice Committee, fulfilling amongst others a monitoring role, already exits. It is situated in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, within the Business Unit: Court Services and more particularly the Directorate of Child Justice, and is chaired by the Chief Director: Specialised Services and Promotion of the Rights of Vulnerable Groups. The committee meets on a monthly basis and reports to the DG Cluster: Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) from time to time.

1.2 Recommendations

It is recommended that a National Committee for Child Justice should be the day to day mechanism to oversee the Child Justice system and to deal with issues relating to Child Justice. For such a body to have the required authority it is recommended that the National Committee for Child Justice (hereafter called "the Committee") be a statutory body, and that its reporting procedures should be included in legislation. (As indicated below, the Committee should establish Provincial Committees and Local Fora/structures to strengthen its work, deal with issues at those levels and provide feedback to the National Committee.)

1.3 Membership

The Committee should be comprised of at least one senior member from at least one each of the following core departments, who should be appointed by the Director-General or Commissioner of that department:

• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (chair)
• National Prosecuting Authority
• Department of Social Development
• Department of Correctional Services
• Department of Education
• South African Police Service.

1.4 Interaction

The Committee should have a broader national reference group that meets at least four times a year and which includes a representative from the Office on the Rights of the Child (President’s Office) and the Human Rights Commission, and up to 5 co-opted members selected for their expertise in certain areas who may be from non-governmental organisations or academic institutions.

1.5 Procedural aspects

The Committee should meet once a month and should have clear terms of reference that spell out its powers and duties (which should be contained in regulations.)

1.6 The Committee should have a fulltime secretariat/project manager that can follow up issues, write minutes and monitor/ensure progress on actions required.

1.7 Targets and indicators should be set through a strategic business plan to be drafted by the Committee each year.

1.8 The Committee should have the power and budget to appoint researchers on a contract basis to undertake research relating to any aspect of the Child Justice system.

2.1 Provincial (Inter-sectoral) Committees for Child Justice

The National Committee for Child Justice needs to be mirrored at Provincial level with a representative from at least each of the following core departments:

• Justice and Constitutional Development
• National Prosecuting Authority
• Social Development
• Correctional Services
• Education
• SAPS

The Provincial Committees for Child Justice should be open to participation by non-governmental organisations that undertake advocacy work or who provide services in the area of child justice and who may be members of the committee.

The committee should meet at least once a month.

A broader Provincial reference group which could include Provincial Plan of Action Committees (Premier’s Office) and Provincial Human Rights Commission representatives should meet at least 4 times a year.

2.2 Local Inter-sectoral Committees for Child Justice

Local monitoring fora/structures should also be established by magisterial district, but can where required and especially in less populated areas/districts be grouped (i.e. one such local structure can monitor several areas/districts).

The following departments should have at least one representative on the committee:

• Justice and Constitutional Development
• National Prosecuting Authority
• Social Development
• Correctional Services
• Education
• SAPS

The local structure must be open to participation by non-governmental organisations that undertake advocacy work or who provide services in the area of child justice may be members of the committee.

The committee should meet once a month, but the possibility of this frequency being relaxed in areas where there are large distances to travel and very few children being arrested may be considered.

3.1 National

The National Committee for Child Justice should report as follows

• Quarterly reports to the JCPS and the Social DG clusters.
• Annual report to Cabinet
• Annual report to Portfolio Committee: Justice and Constitutional Development

The annual reports will be based on the information to be compiled in accordance with regulations/national instructions/directives (see Part B of this document).

3.2 Provincial

The Provincial Committees will report to the National Inter-sectoral Committee for Child Justice on a quarterly basis and will be required to compile a provincial input for the annual report.

3.3 Local

The Local Committees will report to the Provincial Inter-sectoral Committee for Child Justice of the Province on a monthly basis.

The following required data/information has been identified through an inter-sectoral process at provincial level, as needing to be monitored. This kind of detail should however rather be included in regulations or national instructions/directives. The details will still be subjected to further scrutiny before being included in such regulations and instructions, but could include the following.

The requirements for monitoring the arrest of children include monitoring the following:

Furthermore, the following qualitative aspects require monitoring -

• the extent to which procedures relating to release from police custody before Assessment are used
• the situation of children in police custody pending the conclusion of the Preliminary Inquiry, including the conditions under which children are held in police custody, and the length of time that children spend in police custody prior to being brought for Assessment.
• reports on injuries before, during and after arrest
• compliance with national instructions, with regard to protection of children in cells, legality of arrest, arrest and detention procedures, children being kept separate from adults
• arrest patterns (seasonal patterns and school holidays).

The requirements for monitoring the Assessment of children include monitoring:

Furthermore, the following qualitative aspects need monitoring -

• efforts undertaken to find the family (including the use of family finders)
• quality of premises for Assessment
• nature of accommodation for Assessment after hours
• the nature of the probation officers’ reports for children under 10
• the quality of the probation officers report and the time taken to supply it
• procedural compliance and uniformity
• staff distribution.

The requirements for monitoring the Preliminary Inquiry of children include monitoring:

Furthermore, the following qualitative aspects need monitoring -

• efforts by the police to find the family (including the use of family finders)
• quality of premises for Preliminary Inquiry
• nature of accommodation for Preliminary Inquiry after hours
• the nature of the probation officers’ reports for children under 10
• the quality of the probation officers’ reports and the time taken to supply it
• procedural compliance and uniformity

The requirements for monitoring Diversion of children include monitoring the following:

Furthermore, the following qualitative aspects need monitoring –

• number and quality of programmes for Diversion
• procedural compliance and uniformity
• appropriateness of available diversion options
• existence and adequacy of accredited diversion register
• adherence to Diversion minimum standards and requirements
• Long term follow-up and tracking of diversion success rates

The requirements for monitoring children awaiting trial and on remand include:

Furthermore, the following qualitative aspects need monitoring –

• quality of legal representation for children awaiting trial
• conditions of facilities where children await trial in custody
• separate from adults
• HIV/AIDS
• gangsterism
• disabilities
• reported abuse.

The requirements for monitoring the Trials of children include monitoring:

Furthermore, the following qualitative aspects need monitoring –

• quality of legal representation for children being tried
• whether the child’s privacy is respected

The requirements for monitoring the sentencing of children include monitoring:

Furthermore, the following qualitative aspects need monitoring –

• quality of pre-sentence reports
• conditions of residential facilities
• conditions in prison
• access to educational and other programmes
• long-term effectiveness of various sentencing options

The requirements for monitoring the appeal and review processes include monitoring:

There are various levels of monitoring – including monitoring of individual cases, monitoring of trends, and monitoring of the effectiveness of the stakeholders within the Child Justice process.

• Quantitative data has to be gathered, in a uniform manner, and analysed for the purpose checking if the system is working properly and if not deciding what remedial action to take.
• Qualitative data has to be gathered, sometimes through peer monitoring and civil society monitoring. Research may need to be undertaken by independent researchers on samples of the system.

There are also some general monitoring requirements which cut across sectors and role-players.