Listening to Children in South Africa (From International Perspectives on Child Abuse and Children's Testimony: Psychological Research and Law, P 168-181, 1996, Bette L. Bottoms, Gail S. Goodman, eds., - See NCJ-163667)

• NCJ Number: 163670
• Author(s): D Louw; P Olivier
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The laws in South Africa made no special provision for the protection of juvenile witnesses before 1991, when the report of the South African Law Commission was published.

Abstract

South African legal practice uses the adversarial system. In the past, this system has adversely affected most children experiencing, without assistance, grueling cross- examination, as well as the need to testify in the presence of the accused person. Two South African research projects published in 1987 and 1988 reinforced the widespread dissatisfaction with existing law and had a significant effect on protecting the rights of the child witness. These studies were those of Hammond and Hammond in 1987 and Key in 1988. These studies prompted the Minister of Justice to instruct the South African Law Commission to examine new methods of protecting juvenile witnesses. The commission's final report of 1991 recommended a national child support program, special courtrooms and translated cross- examination, legal assistance for child witnesses, sympathetic and careful taking of the child's initial statement, videotapes of the initial statement as admissible evidence, and other changes. The report resulted in training of prosecutors and a 1991 law including the recommendation to protect child witnesses from destructive cross- examination. It is hoped that the new system is only the beginning of a tradition to protect children's legal rights in South Africa. Figure and 10 references