Cape Town - The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is looking at increasing the minimum age whereby children cannot be held liable for the crimes they commit.
Currently children under 10 are deemed to lack the criminal capacity to be charged. If the bill becomes law, it would raise the minimum age to 12 years. On Tuesday, the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services was briefed on the Child Justice Amendment Bill.
Committee chairperson Madipoane Mothapo said: “The primary objective of the Child Justice Amendment Bill is to increase the minimum age of criminal capacity of children from 10 to 12 years and to remove the requirement to prove criminal capacity for purposes of diversion and preliminary inquiries.”
According to the department’s presentation, Section 7 of the act provides that a child under the age of 10 who commits an offence does not have criminal capacity and cannot be prosecuted.
The bill comes after a report, compiled in consultation with stakeholders, including academia, psychologists, psychiatrists, the judiciary, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Department of Health, Legal Aid SA and various civil society organisations specialising in children’s issues.
The deadline for written submissions on the bill is November 2. Public hearings will be held at Parliament.
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