Internationally most law schools have not always offered law students education on child cognition development and communication. It is quite possible to say most court role players in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Ethiopia did not study child witness cognition, development and communication when they studied law. It is difficult for anyone who has
39 Theron The impact of the Namibian judiciary system on the child witness (2005)70. 40 Müller and Hollely Introducing the Child Witness (2000)19.
41 The South African 1977 Criminal Procedure Act.
42“All pending cases of violence against children that are scattered in the different courts are being collected so that the special bench can handle them”.
See the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs “Response to United Nations Questionnaire on Violence against Children”.
166 neither received prior education nor training on these complex subjects to have the proper understanding. Most presiding officers and prosecutors admit that without the sensitisation trainings, they would have neither understood nor properly perceived the impact of the demands of the accusatorial system on witnesses.43 A positive perception of the role of the intermediary
by role players leads to a better appreciation of the fact that child victims of sexual abuse who testify in court without the aid of intermediaries are likely to experience undue mental stress or suffering.44
In all four countries, training and sensitisation of presiding officers has been carried out, albeit at varying levels. In a 2002 study, some South African intermediaries complained about the absence of respect for their role by other role players. It appeared then that the courts were more focused on protecting the accused‟s rights rather than those of a child witness. The situation has improved significantly. The SOCA Unit has been providing training on an ad-hoc basis to selected prosecutors and magistrates.45 A 2006 study however revealed that 41% of the
prosecutors in the study still believed that most child witnesses did not deserve intermediary assistance because they believed that not all child victims of sexual crimes are traumatised, only children under the age of fourteen or simply that older children do not suffer trauma.
It was stated in the case of DPP v Mokoena and Phaswane that training and sensitisation of South African role players on the issues surrounding the accusatorial system, trauma and child sexual abuse was a necessity. However, the constant high staff turnover makes it challenging to ensure that every prosecutor is trained before assumption of duty in the child-friendly courts.46
After receiving initial role player sensitisation and trainings in South Africa, role player training in Zimbabwe is now consistently provided through the National Coordinator‟s office at the local Judicial College of Zimbabwe. The training of the presiding officers, prosecutors and intermediaries are synchronized. Despite the high staff turnover, the trend towards the acceptance and acknowledgement of the intermediary role is already established. The
43 Müller and Hollely Introducing the Child Witness (2000)47. 44 DPP v Mokoena and Phaswane para 196.
45 Sadani et al: The Sexual Offences Court in Wynberg & Cape Town and Related Services. 46 Ibid.
167 recognition of the role of the intermediary by role players was more rapid compared to that of South Africa‟s because the Zimbabwean intermediary was not considered an outsider but an insider as a former interpreter. Credit of the success of the synchronized sensitisation programmes should be given to the National Coordinator. Because of the significantly high staff turnovers, the success of this strategy may have been compromised. Mostly newly appointed magistrates fast-tracked from the provincial courts into the regional courts, rely on the more experienced intermediary for guidance during trial. The relationship between most role players and intermediaries is an amicable one.
The limited knowledge on how children think and function is responsible for the continued traumatisation of child witnesses. Where role players have not been sensitised to the vulnerability of children, communication limitations, the tendency is to unrealistically expect more from children as they testify. Role players need to be properly educated on how the demands of the accusatorial system impacts on children and how they re-traumatize child victims of sexual abuse.
Since the early 2000s there has been a drive to educate Namibian role players on the negative impact the accusatorial system has on vulnerable witnesses. While these trainings were initially not offered consistently, the situation has improved for the better with magistrates and prosecutors receiving consistent training.47 The problem that remains is still the continued
absence of the intermediary in the criminal courts. It can be safely assumed that as long as these sensitisation training programmes are being offered in the country, by the time the intermediary role is introduced all role players will be ready to embrace the role.
In Ethiopia, most judges and prosecutors are inexperienced and lack knowledge on how to appropriately handle child victims of sexual offence.48 In 2005 the Ethiopian government
admitted that most of the role players lacked the sensitivity needed to deal with child witnesses. There is limited information on the role players‟ attitude towards the role of the intermediary.
47 As indicated in interview with the Prosecutor General. See addendum 7.
48 UNICEF “Pre-service workbook on justice for children for Judges and Prosecutors: UNICEF-Ethiopia Training Centre for Judges and Prosecutors July 2008”.
168 But it appears as if when an intermediary is available, he or she is usually assigned to assist a child witness.