Botswana Constitution omits Child protection in Bill of Rights

The Children’s Act, which is the primary statute for enabling a child to have a Child Friendly Justice system is not fully implemented.

It has been revealed that there are some specific provisions within the Children's Act which are yet to be implemented, 10 years on.

Speaking during the recent Child Friendly Justice Symposium, one of the speakers, Kebonyengwana Mashaka from the University of Botswana, shared that the constitution of Botswana unlike that of South Africa does not specifically mention Child protection in the Bill of Rights.

Mashaka was giving a presentation on the situational analysis of what is happening in Botswana, based on a study titled 'Assessing the state of Child Friendly Justice System in Botswana,' that was commissioned by the Government of Botswana, and was conducted by Stepping Stones International in collaboration with the University of Botswana.

The symposium, which brought together close to 100 participants including representatives from key ministries, academia, civil society, the media and development partners was organised by UNICEF in partnership with the Ministry of Justice with the support of the British High Commission.

The inaugural event was held under the theme: 'Re-imagining Child Friendly Justice System.' What is worrying is that in the area of governance, a very important organisation that is responsible for the coordination of a Child Friendly Justice System, namely the National Children’s Council lacks the autonomy to function independently, and to coordinate all the sectors that are responsible for the implementation of a Child Friendly Justice System. “The structures that are supposed to have been set-up, not all of them have not been established. Some have been established but are dysfunctional especially those at community level,” she said.

She further said that the Legal Aid that has already been established is highly under-utilised. She also noted that when it comes to budget and resources, the Children’s Act and its implementation, as well as various interventions that actualise the Children’s Act are not fully costed.

“And the different sectors that are responsible for the implementation of the Children’s Rights are not adequately resourced,” she said, further adding that at organisational level, they looked at institutions, systems and infrastructure and found that many sectors that are responsible for the implementation of a Child Friendly Justice System, lack the necessary infrastructure and spaces that are Child Friendly.

“Police officers don’t have rooms or places where they can interact, and interview children. Social workers don’t have spaces that have been set aside for interviewing children. So, there is a huge lack of appropriate resources that can enable a Child-Friendly Justice system,” she explained.

She also pointed out that different sectors seemed to work in silos, and that there was no seamless coordination from one sector to another, as well as no standard operating procedure within the sectors themselves. In the event that some have set up the standard operating procedures, she said that were no timeliness.

“Across all sectors, there is an apparent lack of specialised service providers, especially trained ones.'

The study has also discovered that 70 percent respondents, who are the key informants, did not receive any specialised training, across all sectors that they interviewed. They also looked at the actual implementation, the practical interaction with the children themselves.

“Children who are processed within the system are not adequately informed about the processes that take place on their behalf. They are not adequately informed of their rights, and every step of their case as they are processed.

Children are seldom asked for their opinion about what should happen and when it should happen. Many of the children that are processed through the system did not receive the adequate counselling,” she explained.

She also pointed out that the justice system seems to be more focused on punitive measures as opposed to rehabilitation, and restoration of the child. Other concerns that they observed include huge delays with cases, which go up to four years.

In addition, children who are in conflict with the law, are processed without legal representation, as well as a tendency to withdraw cases where children have been processed, and there is no justice for these children.