Child Abuse Tort Claims against Public Bodies in South Africa

Abstract

The array of legal rules affecting children is made up of a blend of Roman-Dutch principles, which, with the relevant judicial interpretation, comprise the common body of rules generally known as the law of parent and child together with numerous statutory provisions. Chief amongst the latter of these is the Child Care Act. This Act contains numerous civil provisions and some criminal provisions designed to protect children from ill-treatment or neglect. Although there does not exist an offence called 'child abuse' in South African law, provisions in the 1983 Act. In Roman-Dutch the question is whether in the light of all relevant circumstances the person's omission constitutes conduct which the community regards as wrongful for the purposes of the of delict. The concept of 'legal duty' should not be confused with the English common concept of 'duty of care'. The Grootboom case deals with the scope of children's rights under the Convention.