JUVENILE DIVERSION: DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE NETHERLANDS

Abstract

Juvenile justice in South Africa has undergone many changes in the last twenty years. However, in our opinion, one of the most important developments in South African juvenile justice in this period has been the idea of diverting the trials of young offenders away from criminal courts to appropriate alternative programs (Sloth-Nielsen “Reviewing the Prosecutorial Decision not to Divert – Case Discussion of M v The Senior Public Prosecutor, Randburg” 2001 De Jure 194). This development is the result of a number of events, amongst which are South Africa’s adoption of the United Nations Children’s Convention (United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (1989)), and the inclusion of children’s rights in the South African Constitution in 1996. Juvenile diversion is an international trend. This note will highlight some of the local developments and will also illustrate some interesting similar developments in juvenile diversion in the Netherlands.