JUSTICE: GUIDELINES PUBLISHED ON TRANSPORTING CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW

JUSTICE: GUIDELINES PUBLISHED ON TRANSPORTING CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW

• 15 July 2026
• Justice & Constitutional Development
• SA Legal Academy

The Department of Justice & Constitutional Development has published guidelines on transporting children in conflict with the law. This is noting that sub-section 33(2)(c) of the 2008 Child Justice Act requires that:

• children are not to be transported with adults to or from preliminary inquiries or a child justice court, and that
• should separate transportation not be possible, within 48 hours the police official concerned must submit a written report to the presiding officer explaining why.

According to the guidelines, the South African Police Service and the Departments of Social Development and Correctional Services each has ‘particular responsibilities’ in the context of transporting children in conflict with the law. However, because police officials are ‘the first point of contact between such children and the criminal justice system’, they ‘play a central role’ in ensuring that each child concerned is treated ‘in a manner … consistent with the Act’.

• guidelines
• covering notice

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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