Child Justice Act, 2008 (Act No. 75 of 2008)Chapter 2 : Application of Act, Criminal Capacity of Children under the age of 14 years and matters related to agePart 3 : Age Estimation, Age Determination and Error Regarding Age12. Responsibility of police official where age of child is uncertain |
If a police official is uncertain about the age of a person suspected of having committed an offence but has reason to believe that—
| (a) | the person may be a child under the age of 12 years, the official must act in accordance with the provisions of section 9; or |
| (b) | the person may be a child who is 12 years or older but under the age of 14 years, or a child who is 14 years or older but under the age of 18 years, the police official must treat the person as a child with due regard to the provisions relating to— |
| (i) | arrest in terms of Chapter 3; or |
| (ii) | release or detention in terms of Chapter 4, and, in particular, section 27 relating to placement options before a child's first appearance at a preliminary inquiry, |
until a probation officer or medical practitioner has expressed an opinion on the age of the person or until the determination of that person's age at the preliminary inquiry or child justice court, after which the police official must treat the person in accordance with the opinion or determination.
[Section 12 substituted by section 9 of the Child Justice Amendment Act, 2019 (Act No. 28 of 2019), Notice No. 641, GG43402, dated 4 June 2020 - effective 19 August 2022 per Proclamation Notice 2400, GG46752, dated 19 August 2022]