Protecting child offenders’ rights

The South African Constitutional Court declared the automatic inclusion of child offenders on the National Register for Sex Offenders unconstitutional, ruling that it violates the principle that a child's best interests must be paramount. The Court held that sentencing courts must have the discretion to decide on registration based on individual circumstances. Parliament was given 15 months to remedy the legislation.

• The Constitutional Court ruled that the automatic inclusion of child offenders on the National Register for Sex Offenders is unconstitutional because it violates the right of children to have their best interests treated as the paramount consideration in every matter affecting them, as per section 28(2) of the Constitution.
• The Court established that the 'best-interests principle' requires the law to distinguish between adults and children, allow for an individuated approach to child offenders, and ensure children or their representatives have an adequate opportunity to make representations at every stage of the criminal justice process.
• Automatic registration is considered an infringement of a child's best interests because it ignores the child's capacity for reform and creates long-term sanctions that persist into adulthood, potentially excluding them from formative areas of life and livelihood.
• While the Court acknowledged that the National Register for Sex Offenders serves a legitimate and commendable purpose in protecting children and persons with disabilities from sexual abuse, it determined that the automatic operation of section 50(2)(a) is not a justifiable limitation of rights.
• The Constitutional Court ordered Parliament to remedy the constitutional defect within 15 months. During this suspension period, the Court also ordered the creation of a mechanism to identify child offenders already on the Register so they can obtain legal advice and assistance.

APA

Hansungule, Z. (2014). Protecting child offenders’ rights. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SACQ_50_Hansungule.pdf

Chicago

Hansungule, Zita. Protecting child offenders’ rights. Institute for Security Studies, 2014. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SACQ_50_Hansungule.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hansungule |first1=Zita |title=Protecting child offenders’ rights |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=December 2014 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SACQ_50_Hansungule.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hansungule2014protecting, author = {Hansungule, Zita}, title = {{Protecting child offenders’ rights}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2014}, month = dec, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SACQ_50_Hansungule.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }