Johannesburg - The legal fight about whether the media should withhold the identities of child offenders after they turn 18 is headed to the Constitutional Court.
University of Pretoria-based law clinic, the Centre for Child Law (CCL), sought to secure a ruling that would bar the media from naming child accused, witnesses and victims even when they turn 18.
The clinic aims to convince the top court that the Supreme Court of Appeal erred by ruling that the legislation limiting protection of identities of concerned children was not unconstitutional.
In papers, Karabo Ozah, the clinic’s deputy director, urged the Constitutional Court to look closely into the harm of revealing the identities of those who became involved in criminal processes before they became young adults.
As the legislation that the CCL sought to repeal remains valid, the media can name the young woman who became known as Zephany Nurse.
She was abducted from Groote Schuur Hospital on April 30, 1997, when she was two days old. Nurse testified against the woman who abducted her and raised her as her daughter. The woman was jailed and Nurse was reunited with her biological parents.
The CCL believed a ruling in its favour would bar the media from naming Nurse and others involved in court processes as witnesses or accused.
This was in the interest of the concerned children, said CCL.
“A child’s need for protection from public identification does not stop when they turn 18,” said Ozah. “Ongoing protection is needed to ensure their rights are secured into adulthood.”
Ozah said the clinic had enough evidence from psychologists warning about the trauma that crime victims and perpetrators could experience if they were suddenly named.
“Childhood traumas leave deep and lasting psychological wounds that may be reopened in adulthood. As a result, a child victim, witness or offender who is publicly identified in adulthood will generally experience greater psychological harm than an adult victim, witness or offender who is publicly identified,” Ozah said.
Media groups will oppose the centre’s application, arguing that a blanket ban on naming child victims and offenders was not in the interest of society.
Susan Smuts, who filed a replying affidavit on behalf of Media24, Independent Media and Tiso Blackstar, said such a ban would hinder publication of certain news articles.
She cited articles that celebrated the recovery of child victims from their traumatic experiences, those that celebrated rehabilitation and reintegration of young offenders, and those exposing miscarriages of justice.
“There is much greater public interest knowing the names of persons convicted of serious crimes than of those merely suspected or charged,” said Smuts.
@BonganiNkosi87