http://hdl.handle.net/10628/87 Sat, 01 Jun 2013 06:25:32 GMT 2013-06-01T06:25:32Z http://hdl.handle.net/10628/90 Title: Restorative justice - The case for a Child Justice Act. Authors: Schulz, Stefan Abstract: In Namibia, though it is still a relatively young country, law reform efforts on juvenile/child justice have a long history. The early beginnings can be traced back to shortly after national Independence in 1990. However, whereas considerable efforts have been made to overhaul the system, the legal situation remained unchanged until today. This has distanced Namibia from the world community, which more and more embraces the principles of restorative justice when dealing with young people in conflict with the law. This paper looks into the history of Namibian law reform efforts on juvenile/child justice since Independence, offers a discourse on some essential philosophical and ideological reasoning which as could be argued has become a stumbling block on the way to Namibia's own juvenile/child justice system, and eventually discusses the merits of the Draft Child Justice Bill (2002), a layman's draft, which almost got as far as the Cabinet Committee on Legislation. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10628/90 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10628/89 Title: In dubio pro libertate - the General Freedom Right (GFR). Authors: Schulz, Stefan Abstract: The constitutional protection of actual, intended or only desired behaviour of a person outside the ambit of a special Fundamental Right or Freedom, requires the recognition of a residual (negative) freedom, also called General Freedom Right (GFR). The non-recognition of the GFR, results in the possibility that the legislator, and in its wake the executive may arbitrarily infringe, restrict and violate the life-spheres of individuals without any legal remedy for the affected individual. Such treatment does not recognise the individual as a recipient of rights but as an object, subjected to statutory mechanisms without a say in the matter. If Ronald Dworkin’s claim that democracy is about governments ‘treating all members of the community as individuals, with equal concern and respect´ holds any appeal, legal scholars better look out for this residual freedom right in their Constitutions. The paper deals with the merits of the GFR and the question where to locate this right in the norm text of the Namibian Constitution. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10628/89 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10628/88 Title: Juvenile justice in Namibia: Law reform towards reconciliation and restorative justice? Authors: Schulz, Stefan; Hamutenya, Marthinus Abstract: Namibia is a newly independent nation, which in the wake of colonial oppression and foreign rule has yet to develop a comprehensive juvenile justice system. The current criminal justice system is informed by stereotyped common sense concepts of ‘criminality’ and ‘the criminal’. Simplistic views undergirded by utilitarian arguments have put Namibia at odds with international instruments, such as the United Nations Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules) and the Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC), which have embraced a holistic perspective on juvenile crime and deviance. In the spirit of ‘Ubuntu’, a frame of mind prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, which relates to a specific communal approach to the notion of people, Namibia has set forth to establish a restorative juvenile justice system. This endeavor has led to the drafting of the Child Justice Bill, which is under scrutiny in this article. The authors highlight the arguments behind the most important parts of the draft Bill, and assess the merits of the proposed law against the backdrop of international legal instruments and law reform projects of other countries. Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10628/88 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z