The following submissions will highlight a comparative investigation and the focus will be on issues such as fairness and procedural legitimacy pertaining to the pre-trial procedure of a child and adult offenders/co – accused in the same instances

The following submissions will highlight a comparative investigation and the focus will be on issues such as fairness and procedural legitimacy pertaining to the pre-trial procedure of a child and adult offenders/co – accused in the same instances

The following submissions will highlight a comparative investigation and the focus will be on issues such as fairness and procedural legitimacy pertaining to the pre-trial procedure of a child and adult offenders/co – accused in the same instances.
The protection of both the child and adult offender in terms of the constitutional right in section 35 (3) “every accused person has a right to a fair trial”. The Criminal Procedure Act contains the principles of separation and the positioning together with the Child Justice Act it creates a complicated effect greater than the sum of their individual effect.
The question that arises, that should the Child Justice Act be applied at a joint trial of an adult and child co-accused trial.
A reflection of the past before the Child Justice Act, pointed out that age played an important role between co-accused (adult and child) largely in the sentencing process. The application is as follows that a child and adult can be tried together before the same court and that the court must apply the different laws applicable, Child Justice Act in the case of a child and Criminal Procedure Act the case of an adult.