An EVALUATION OF THE CHILD JUSTICE SYSTEMS DEALING WITH CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the child justice systems dealing with children in

conflict with the law. The research venue was the C-Court at the Katutura Magistrate Court and

the duty stations of the key informants were in Windhoek.

The researcher used qualitative and quantitative research approaches in conducting the study.

The qualitative research approach applied the summative evaluation and the quantitative method

utilized the survey design. A structured questionnaire was administered with 70 respondents at

the Katutura Magistrate Court to obtain detailed knowledge of the specific needs of children.

The data captured from the questionnaires were analyzed using the statistical package for social

sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics - 19). Results are presented in frequency tables, bar charts, pie

charts and other forms of graphs for interpretation.

The findings for the quantitative approach were based on the extent and distribution of the

problem such as the protection of the rights of children during arrest, detention, screening and

rehabilitation offered by the diversion programs.

In-depth interviews with the 20 key informants were conducted because of their expertise in

child justice and the power they wield in decision making. Data was gathered through a semistructured

interview guide. A tape recorder and field notes were used.

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A profile of the personal information of a child in conflict with the law reveals that boys are

more likely to commit crime than girls aged 14-17 across four cultural and ethnic groups:

Damara/Nama, Afrikaans, Oshiwambo and Otjiherero. They were mostly out of school and

repeat offenders. Generally all crimes committed had a bias towards meeting the economic

needs of the child offender.

The services available for children in conflict with the law were found not to be adequately

aligned with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Detention was

invariably applied at the expense of alternative measures to deal with children in conflict with

the law. Several children were detained with adult offenders and in addition there were limited

opportunities for assessment before the first court appearance. Cases were not speedily finalized

or held “in camera”. Services to children in conflict with the law are provided in a fragmented

manner and the Inter-ministerial Committee on child justice which is supposed to coordinate

services is not fully functional.

The study recommends that minimum guidelines be developed for the pre-trial process on how

children should be treated during assessment, arrest, detention and pre-trial diversion. The

development of a structure for child justice is imperative as well as the enactment of the Child

Justice Bill. Programmes on resilience should be offered to boys so that they can acquire skills

and capabilities on how to deal with life’s difficulties. Multi –model crime prevention strategies

at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, with the involvement of the parents should be offered

to children. The extension of restorative justice approaches should be supported. Finally

capacity building of key stakeholders should be prioritized to give sufficient backing to the

activities leading to the achievement of the recommendations made.