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Child Justice Act Implementation: Legal Representation and Services

This presentation discusses the legal representation provisions under the Child Justice Act, including the availability of legal aid services and the waiver of legal representation rights. It also addresses the provision of legal aid services through One Stop Child Justice Centers and dedicated Child Justice Courts. Additionally, the budget for implementing the Act and the training of legal practitioners is discussed.

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Child Justice Act Implementation: Legal Representation and Services

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  1. Presentation to Portfolio Committee on Justice And Constitutional Development on the Implementation of the Child Justice Act 2/26/10

  2. Legal Representation in terms of Child Justice Act • Legal Representation at State Expense (Section 82) • Where a child appears before a Child Justice Court and he/she is not legally represented, then Legal Aid SA must evaluate whether to provide legal representation • No Plea may be taken until a child has been afforded a chance to obtain a legal representative Waive of Legal Representation (Section 83) • No child may waive his/her right to legal representation • Where a child declines to appoint or to give instructions, Legal Aid SA must appoint a legal representative to assist the court

  3. Legal Representation in terms of Child Justice Act • Legal Representation at Preliminary Inquiry (Section 81) • The Act does not preclude a child from being represented by a legal representative at a preliminary inquiry Postponement of Preliminary Inquiry (Section 48) • Where a preliminary Inquiry is postponed to note a confession/admission or hold an identity parade/pointing-out the magistrate must inform the child to have and adult/guardian/legal representative during the proceedings

  4. Provision of Legal Aid Services • All Courts Designated as Child Justice Courts • Legal Aid SA provides legal services by means of salaried practitioners and private practitioners briefed on Judicare • Currently each criminal court is covered either by Legal Aid SA salaried practitioners (Allocated to a specific court/courts) or by judicare practitioners • The current court coverage model will continue to ensure coverage of any child justice courts and no additional resources will be made available to cover the Child Justice Courts

  5. Provision of Legal Aid Services • One Stop Child Justice Centres • 13 One Stop Child Justice Centers were initially planned • There is currently no clarity on the number of One Stop Child Justice Centres that are going to be rolled out and the location/jurisdiction of such centres • Only two currently operational v.i.z Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth • Legal Aid SA deploys dedicated capacity to the two one stop Justice Centres • Dedicated capacity is envisaged for any further One Stop Justice Centres but specific funding for additional capacity will be required

  6. Provision of Legal Aid Services • Dedicated Child Justice Courts implemented by Chief Magistrates • Currently there are courts dedicated to dealing with children in conflict with the law • Chief Magistrates may designate dedicated Child Justice Courts but the number of dedicated courts that may be implemented is unknown • Legal Aid SA provides admitted attorneys at the courts currently dedicated to children in conflict with the law • It is envisaged that all new dedicated Child Justice Courts will be serviced by admitted legal practitioners • Additional funding will be required to convert the Candidate Attorney posts to Admitted Practitioner posts at District Courts so designated

  7. Budget for implementation of Child Justice Act • Legal Aid SA has not received an allocation in the MTEF for the implementation of the Child Justice Act • The DOJ has indicated that it has R 30 Million for the implementation of legislation for the 2010/2011 financial year that is allocated to the Child Justice Act • The DOJ has recommended that Legal Aid SA be allocated R 10 Million from this budget but no official confirmation has been received nor has any transfer been effected • The above Budget allocation is not recurring and has not been added to the MTEF baseline. This only permits a limited and unsustainable response to the implementation of the Child Justice Act

  8. Training of Legal Practitioners • Training material has been developed but needs to include the gazetted regulations, the NDPP Directives and SAPS National Instructions • Legal Aid SA will have to train all it’s legal practitioners as all courts are designated as Child Justice Courts • This will have to be done in phases so as to not disrupt the normal functioning of the courts • Additional budget is required to implement the training for all Legal Aid SA legal practitioners

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