South Africa High Court, Western Cape Division: Two matters came for review before a 2-Judge Bench comprising of DM Thulare AJ; MJ Dolamo J, where the proceedings were held considering the accused as major but they were found to be minor.
One of the accused pleaded guilty and thereby he was convicted under Section 112(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedures Act, 1977. While mitigation of sentences were being held it was brought before the court that the accused was minor as a consequence of which he was released and the matter was postponed for the determination of the correct age of the accused. The second accused was found guilty and accordingly sentenced where his age was not determined.
The High Court viewed that terminology used in Section 12, 13 and 14 in Part 3 of Chapter 2 of the Child Justice Act, 2008 were not interpreted and applied in the best interests of children. Court with respect to Section 12 observed that police officer after arrest should have treated a youngster as child unless there were other reasons to the contrary. Further, Section 14 states that where the age of accused is uncertain, it is for the presiding officer to hold enquiry to determine same. It was found that the presiding officer before whom the accused first appeared failed to determine the age of accused. Finding the Magistrate to be correct who said that the wrong determination of date caused prejudice to the accused conviction was liable to be set aside. Therefore, Court ordered the conviction of first accused and sentence on second accused to be set aside and the matter was remitted back to the magistrate for sentencing under Chapter 10 of Child Justice Act, 2008. [State v. B O, 2018 SCC OnLine ZAWCHC 3, dated 02-11-2018]
