Abstract
The Constitutional Court recently declared the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 2007 (Act 32 of 2007) unconstitutional in its requirement that the names of child offenders be automatically included on the National Register for Sex Offenders when convicted of a sexual offence against a child or a person with disability. The Court held that automatic inclusion on the Register violated a child’s right in terms of section 28(2) to have their best interests taken into account as the paramount consideration in every matter affecting the child. The Court held that the individual circumstances of children should be taken into account and that they should be given the opportunity to be heard by the sentencing court regarding the placement of their details on the Register. The Court decided that sentencing courts should be given the discretion to decide whether to place a child on the Register or not.
Highlights
When the applicant (J) was 14 years old, he was charged with the rape of three minors in contravention of section 3 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 2007 (Act 32 of 2007, the Sexual Offences Act)
The Constitutional Court recently declared the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 2007 (Act 32 of 2007) unconstitutional in its requirement that the names of child offenders be automatically included on the National Register for Sex Offenders when convicted of a sexual offence against a child or a person with disability
The recent Constitutional Court judgement of J v National Director of Public Prosecutions and Another[3] is no exception, with its main focus being the constitutionality of automatically placing child offenders on the National Register for Sex Offenders after conviction. (The Register and its purpose are discussed in more detail below in the section ‘Overview of the legal provisions at issue’.)
Summary
The Constitutional Court recently declared the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 2007 (Act 32 of 2007) unconstitutional in its requirement that the names of child offenders be automatically included on the National Register for Sex Offenders when convicted of a sexual offence against a child or a person with disability. The Court held that automatic inclusion on the Register violated a child’s right in terms of section 28(2) to have their best interests taken into account as the paramount consideration in every matter affecting the child. The recent Constitutional Court judgement of J v National Director of Public Prosecutions and Another[3] is no exception, with its main focus being the constitutionality of automatically placing child offenders on the National Register for Sex Offenders (the Register) after conviction. The recent Constitutional Court judgement of J v National Director of Public Prosecutions and Another[3] is no exception, with its main focus being the constitutionality of automatically placing child offenders on the National Register for Sex Offenders (the Register) after conviction. (The Register and its purpose are discussed in more detail below in the section ‘Overview of the legal provisions at issue’.)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
