Is Diversion the Appropriate Emphasis for South African Child Justice?
| DOI | 10.1177/1473225406065562 |
| Date | 01 August 2006 |
| Published date | 01 August 2006 |
| Author | Brian Stout |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
ARTICLE
Copyright 2006 The National Association for Youth Justice
Published by SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi)
www.sagepublications.com
ISSN 1473-2254, Vol 6(2): 129–142
DOI: 10.1177/1473225406065562
Is Diversion the Appropriate Emphasis for South
African Child Justice?
Brian Stout
Correspondence: Dr Brian Stout, Community and Criminal Justice Division, Hawthorn
Building, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK. Email: bstoutVdmu.ac.uk
Abstract
Diversion is central to the aim of achieving a South African child justice regime that is
compliant with constitutional and international obligations. Future plans for South African
child justice are dependent on large numbers of child offenders being diverted. This article
presents research suggesting that although diversion from court in South African child
justice improves the treatment of many children, it will continue to exclude large numbers
of children from the most progressive interventions. The research suggests that the practice
of diversion will exclude persistent and serious offenders, and raises questions about
whether it is appropriate for advocates of reform to place such an emphasis on diversion.
Keywords: child, diversion, justice, South Africa
Introduction
Diversion is essential to South African child justice. Proposed new legislation, the Child
Justice Bill, envisages the majority of children being diverted instead of entering the
criminal justice system. Prior to its enactment diversion is regularly, if unsystematically,
utilized. The achievement of the aims of the child justice reformers leading the
campaign for a new child justice system is largely dependent on diversion being utilized
for large numbers of child offenders. This article presents research into how diversion
decisions are made by child justice professionals in South Africa.
The treatment of child offenders in South Africa attracts a high degree of internal
and external attention. Reformers within the country hope that the new Bill will be the
mechanism by which South Africa meets its commitments to its own constitution and
to international instruments, addressing the chaotic and at times inhumane way that
child offenders are currently treated. International observers, particularly those
associated with restorative justice, consider South Africa as an example to the world of
how to turn restorative principles into a functioning child justice system, by placing
diversion at the centre of the regime (Braithwaite, 2003).
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