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Litigating the Rights of the Child

Abstract

The Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution contains a powerful children’s rights clause, the wording of which was shaped by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Since the introduction of the Bill of Rights, the CRC has continued to wield influence through litigation. This chapter describes the favourable climate for child rights litigation provided by South Africa’s constitutional democratic legal order, including progressive rules on standing, costs, and the obligation on the courts to consider international law in Bill of Rights cases and to prefer an interpretation compatible with it. The courts have embraced the CRC to the extent that a description of every case mentioning it is beyond the scope of this chapter. Cases where the CRC was clearly evoked and had an influence on the outcome of cases are discussed according to thematic groups. The courts have also used the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, as well as UN guidelines, resolutions and general comments. The chapter concludes by observing that these sources of international law create a rich store of ideas for child rights litigators to bring before the courts, ideas to which the courts fortunately appear to be receptive.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    S 233.

  2. 2.

    S 39(1).

  3. 3.

    South Africa ratified the ACRWC in 2000.

  4. 4.

    S 39(1).

  5. 5.

    2008 (1) SA 474 (CC).

  6. 6.

    Para. 56.

  7. 7.

    2000 (4) SA 757 (CC).

  8. 8.

    2009 (6) SA 632 (CC).

  9. 9.

    Para. 18.

  10. 10.

    2009 NICA 10.

  11. 11.

    2009 (6) SA 232 (CC).

  12. 12.

    S v M (Centre for Child Law as Amicus Curiae) 2008 (3) SA 232 (CC), para. 16.

  13. 13.

    Fletcher v Fletcher 1948 (1) SA 130 (A).

  14. 14.

    Art. 3 of the CRC, art. 4 of the ACRWC.

  15. 15.

    2000 (3) SA 422 (CC).

  16. 16.

    Act 74 of 1983.

  17. 17.

    Grootboom v Government of South Africa 2001 (1) SA 46 (CC); Bannantyne v Bannantyne 2003 (2) SA 363 (CC); Du Toit v Minister of Welfare and Population Development (Lesbian and Gay Equality Project as Amicus Curiae) 2003 (2) SA 198 (CC); C and Others v Department of Health and Social Development and Others 2012 (2) SA 208 (CC).

  18. 18.

    Sonderup v Tondelli 2001 (1) SA 1171 (CC).

  19. 19.

    De Reuck v Director of Public Prosecutions (Witwatersrand Local Division) 2004 (1) SA 406 (CC).

  20. 20.

    Government of the Republic of South Africa v Grootboom 2001 (1) SA 46 (CC). See also Van den Burg 2012 (2) SACR 331 (CC) where the court applied best interests in a case where parents were facing forfeiture of their home to the state because they refused orders to stop operating a tavern on the premises.

  21. 21.

    Fraser v Children’s Court, Pretoria North 1997 (2) SA 261 (CC).

  22. 22.

    Du Toit v Minister of Welfare and Population Development (Lesbian and Gay Equality Project as Amicus Curiae) 2003 (2) SA 198 (CC).

  23. 23.

    AD v DW (Centre for Child Law as Amicus Curiae, Department for Social Development as Intervening Party) 2008 (3) SA 183 (CC).

  24. 24.

    Bhe v Magistrate, Khayelitsha (Commission for Gender Equality as Amicus Curiae) 2005 (1) SA 480 (CC).

  25. 25.

    Minister of Health v Treatment Action Campaign 2002 (5) SA 721 (CC).

  26. 26.

    Khosa v Minister of Social Development; Mahaule v Minister of Social Development 2004 (6) SA 505 (CC).

  27. 27.

    Johncom Media Investments Limited v M (Media Monitoring Project as Amicus Curiae) 2009 (4) SA 7 (CC).

  28. 28.

    Director of Public Prosecutions, Transvaal v Minister of Justice 2009 (2) SACR 130 (CC).

  29. 29.

    Centre for Child Law v Minister of Justice (NICRO as Amicus Curiae) 2009 (6) SA 632 (CC).

  30. 30.

    Governing Body of the Juma Musjid Primary School v Essay NO (Centre for Child Law and Another as Amici Curiae) 2011 (8) BCLR 761 (CC).

  31. 31.

    Note 23 above.

  32. 32.

    2005 40 EHRR.

  33. 33.

    (1994) 98 BCLR (2d) 277.

  34. 34.

    Note 23 above, para. 55.

  35. 35.

    2001 (1) SA 1171 (CC).

  36. 36.

    2004 (1) SA 406 (CC).

  37. 37.

    2003 (3) SA 389 (W), para. 10.

  38. 38.

    Note 19 above, para. 55.

  39. 39.

    Note 12 above.

  40. 40.

    Para. 42.

  41. 41.

    Ex parte Chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly: In re certification of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (4) SA 744 (CC); Dawood v Minister of Home Affairs 2000 (3) SA 936 (CC); Booysen v Minister of Home Affairs 2001 (4) SA 485 (CC).

  42. 42.

    C and Others v Department of Health and Social Development and Others 2012 (2) SA 208 (CC).

  43. 43.

    1999 (3) SCR 46.

  44. 44.

    2001 (1) SA 46 (CC).

  45. 45.

    Minister of Health v Treatment Action Campaign 2002 (5) SA 703 (CC).

  46. 46.

    Centre for Child Law v. Minister of Home Affairs 2005 (6) SA 50 (T).

  47. 47.

    Centre for Child Law v. MEC for Education, Gauteng 2008 (1) SA 223 (T).

  48. 48.

    Note 30 above.

  49. 49.

    Western Cape Forum for Disability v Government of the Republic of South Africa 2011 (5) SA 87 (WCC).

  50. 50.

    S v Z en vier ander sake 1999 (1) SACR 427 (E); S v Kwalase 2000 (2) SACR 135 (C); S v Nkosi 2002 (1) SA 494 (W); Director of Public Prosecutions, Kwa-Zulu Natal v P 2006 (1) SACR 243 (SCA) and S v N 2008 (2) SACR 135 (SCA); S v B 2006 (1) SACR 311 (SCA).

  51. 51.

    1995 (3) SA 632.

  52. 52.

    Tyrer v United Kingdom (1979–1980) 2 EHRR 1; Ireland v United Kingdom (1979–1980) EHRR 25; Cosans v United Kingdom (1980) 3 EHRR 531 (particularly the dissenting judgment of Klecker J).

  53. 53.

    Ex Parte Attorney-General, Namibia: In re corporal punishment by organs of state 1991 (3) SA 76 (NmSC); S v F 1989 (1) SA 460 (ZHC).

  54. 54.

    S v Williams par 51 and 52.

  55. 55.

    2009 (6) SA 632 (CC).

  56. 56.

    Para. 61.

  57. 57.

    Para. 31.

  58. 58.

    Roper, Superintendent, Potosi Correctional Centre v Simmons 543 US 551 (2005).

  59. 59.

    2008 SCC 25.

  60. 60.

    Media 24 Ltd v National Prosecuting Authority: In re S v Mahangu and another 2011 (2) SACR 321.

  61. 61.

    Director of Public Prosecutions, Transvaal v Minister of Justice 2009 (2) SACR 130 (CC).

  62. 62.

    Note 23 above.

  63. 63.

    Note 11 above.

  64. 64.

    Para. 31.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Child Law, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Ann Skelton

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  1. Ann Skelton
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Correspondence to Ann Skelton .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child Law, Leiden Law School, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Ton Liefaard

  2. Faculty of Law, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Jaap E. Doek

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Skelton, A. (2015). South Africa. In: Liefaard, T., Doek, J. (eds) Litigating the Rights of the Child. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9445-9_2

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