A comparative study of child justice systems: any lessons for South Africa from The Netherlands?
Abstract
This submission is a theoretical overview of the adjectival process
of child justice in The Netherlands. It offers insight into the
criminal procedure of an almost pure inquisitorial system dealing
with children in conflict with the law. Unlike the South African
methodology, the Dutch approach uses welfare and education
as the premise for its criminal actions against child offenders.
The author posits that the South African system, especially with
her incorporation of an inquisitorial preliminary inquiry in the
child justice process, would benefit from the lessons offered in
inquisitorial jurisdictions with regard to the implementation of the
best interest standard in the process of prosecuting child offenders.