Juvenile Justice System

INTRODUCTION

Juvenile justice is the area of criminal law related to persons not old enough to be held accounted for criminal acts, nearly all states; juvenile justice is applicable to those under eighteen years old. Juvenile law is mainly controlled by the juvenile codes of states. The main aim of the juvenile justice is rehabilitation rather than punishment. Juvenile justice is administered through a juvenile or family court, however, but juvenile court does not have authority in cases in which minors are charged as adults, where parental neglect or loss of control is the issue, the juvenile court may search for foster homes for the juvenile, treating the child as the ward of the court. According the

Assisting juvenile justice agencies by providing all types of services, such as religious instruction, counseling ,recreational equipment and activities, monitoring, tutoring, medical assistance, friendship and other assistance.

HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF JUVENILE JUSTICE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Unlike the criminal justice system, whose process can be traced back hundreds of years, the development of the juvenile justice system took place over a period of less than hundred years. Throughout history, with some exceptions, children who committed abnormal acts were given some special consideration regarding the amount of and types of chastisement they received. Children were generally treated as the possessions of household. In accordance with custom and tradition, the head of the household had absolute power over the family members, who were valued in relation to their ability to contribute to the interests of the

About eighteen percent of youth referred to the juvenile court are held in detention, awaiting the outcome of their cases. Juveniles charged with drug or personal crimes are mostly likely to be charged With public order and property crimes less likely to get detention. Just as the use of detention has dramatically increased over time, informal adjustment of cases has declined over time, and formal hearings now account for the process in more than half of all juvenile cases. These two trends show the increasing formality of juvenile justice system in response. In cases where a petition has been filed, youth progress to the adjudicatory stage(equivalent to the criminal trial).If a youth is found guilty or plead guilty , he or she is adjudicated to felonious, or adjudication may be withheld contingent upon the youth completion of some program or sanction. Following adjudication cases proceed to disposition ( equivalent to sentencing in the criminal justice system). Disposition generally involves a hearing at which the judge determines the most suitable sanction or service, usually with the help of predisposition report prepared by the probation department , which describes the youth background and conditions and includes a sentencing recommendation, In 2000, 60% of those who were adjudicated or had adjudication withheld were put on probation,21% had a residential placement ,17% received some (e. g