Sexual offences courts re-launched
The re-establishment of Sexual Offences Courts has been well received by the public.
According to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the pilot project of these courts proved to be a huge success as it maintained the conviction rate of up to 80 percent over a period of a year.
However, even though these courts recorded considerable success, there were a number of challenges that led to its demise. Some of the challenges included the lack of a specific legal framework to establish these courts, a dedicated budget, poor visibility of these courts in remote areas, restricted space capacity in courts and lack of training of court personnel.
After numerous deliberations and analysis of the available research, a task team came to the conclusion that there were sufficient grounds and a compelling need for the reinstatement of these courts.
In their assessment, these courts were in line with the ethos of the objectives of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, that seeks to afford complainants of sexual offences the maximum and least traumatising protection.
The introduction of these courts would reinforce the establishment of a victim-centered court system that was prompt, responsive and effective. The research revealed that these courts were found to be successful in the establishment of a victim-centered criminal justice system, reduction of secondary victimisation and improvement of skills of court personnel. In addition it was found there was a reduction of the cycle time in the finalisation of sexual offences cases and efficient prosecution and adjudication of these cases.
