Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

At Rustenburg, the majority of the children intervieweddid not understand that they did not have to pay fora lawyer. Others were unable to see that they mightbe prejudiced without one. Again, one refused alawyer because he believed he would be acquitted;another because he had no faith in legal aid lawyers.At Stanger, four children were interviewed - onesentenced and three awaiting trial. All three of thesentenced children had legal representation. One saidthe lawyer had never spoken to him. Each of the othertwo had spent one hour with 'their lawyers and werenot satisfied with the service they were receiving. Neitherof them had received the services of an interpreterwhen speaking to their lawyers. The sentenced child,who was serving three years for theft of a motorvehicle, said that he does not trust state attorneys.It was clear from the interviews that children have apoor understanding of court procedures, particularlyof the potential value of a legal representative. Manyare poorly educated and have little skill in argumentor presentation. Despite their belief, or the belief oftheir parents, that the children are able to defendthemselves, this is clearly not the case.The urban areasIn urban prisons, a marginally better picture emerges.At Pollsmoor, of the five boys interviewed, two wererepresented by private attorneys, and one by a legalaid attorney. However, one of the remaining boys saidthat his mother felt that a lawyer was not necessaryand "would not help his case". The fifth boy said hehad been represented by his mother and that:"lawyers are not good for your case". This was anopinion he had heard from adults and his friends.At the Pollsmoor Admission Centre, a similar patternemerged. Of six boys interviewed, three had beenallocated a legal aid lawyer, one had a private legalrepresentative, and one said his parents did not wanthim to have a lawyer. Only one was unaware of his rightsin this regard and said that he would get a lawyer forhis pending cases.In Gauteng, where a public defender pilot project isrunning, some of the children had been defended bythis office. 1213 A number of other pilots aimed at introducing the public defender system are planned. There is alsoproposed legislation to add a practical year to the LLB degree, requiring students to work in the justicesystem either as public defenders or as prosecutors before they qualify.