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youth justice

The House Arrest Pilot Project: An alternative to children being held in custody awaiting trial in South Africa

Despite ongoing attempts by various role-players within the Departments of Justice and Social Development as well as those within civil society, there has been a steady increase in the number of children being held in custody while awaiting trial. The record of 2828 children in prison awaiting trial was arrived at in March 2000, certainly a tragic milestone to have been reached in the light of the constitutional obligation to detain children only as a measure of last resort. It has therefore become evident that, until the new Child Justice Bill and its provisions aimed at decreasing the number of detained awaiting-trial children is enacted, innovative steps need to be taken to alleviate the current situation of children in our prisons.

One such attempt was initiated in the Western Cape in 1997. It originated in a single, typical case in which, following a bail application, a recommendation was made that the child in question be referred to institutional care because of family disintegration. As there were no vacancies in welfare facilities, this resulted in the child being detained in prison awaiting trial. Following this matter, the magistrate, Mr Lee, and the probation officer, Ms Nicholas, discussed the possibility of the Department of Social Development investigating alternative resource structures within the community to deal with children awaiting trial. The resultant House Arrest Monitoring Service was started with seven cases and one volunteer/family finder in 1997, and in 1998 it obtained funding as a pilot project and an assistant probation officer, Sam Doubell, was appointed to deal with the cases.

The project essentially entails children being placed in the custody of their parents or guardians under house arrest pending the finalisation of their trial. The child is then monitored by the assistant probation officer, who must be present with the child and his or her parent or guardian at court appearances, and who must submit a sworn affidavit to court on the progress of the child's development.

The Bellville experience
The pilot project began with the initial referral of thirteen cases of awaiting-trial children in October 1998. As at January 2001, a total of 215 children have been managed in terms of the House Arrest Monitoring Service. The offences that these children have been charged with range from murder and rape to shoplifting and trespassing. The highest number of children referred for a single offence was 33 for housebreaking and theft. The matters of 157 of these 215 children had been finalised as at January 2001 and of these, 112 were withdrawn and none were sentenced to prison. At the end of January this year the project was managing 47 children under house arrest. Of these children, eight had absconded but still formed part of the case load and five had been referred back to court for a warning to adhere to house arrest conditions.

The assistant probation officer in charge, Sam Doubell, is of the opinion that the project goes further than merely providing an alternative to placing children in custody awaiting trial. He feels that the assistant probation officer can play a valuable societal role by being a person who the child can see as a friend and someone they can trust and, in addition, can provide support to parents or guardians who need someone to talk to. However, he also warns that, at the same time, the assistant probation officer needs to be strict and to set boundaries with a child in order for the relationship to be effective.

The Project and the Child Justice Bill
Although this pilot project has been implemented to deal with problems experienced with children awaiting trial in the present criminal justice system, its continued implementation is possible under the provisions of the Child Justice Bill. In terms of section 32 of the Bill, a child who is released into the care of his or her parent or an appropriate adult in terms of section 30, can be required to be placed under the supervision of a specified person or report periodically to a specified person or place.

Furthermore, the project is befitting of both the objectives and principles of the Child Justice Bill in that it:

• Involves parents and families in child justice processes in order to encourage the reintegration of children who are subject to the provisions of the legislation;

• Promotes co-operation between government departments in implementing an effective child justice system, and

• Allows the child to maintain contact with his or her family and to have access to social services.

Reprinted from Article 40, Vol.3 No.2, June 2001