Domestication of Children’s Rights in National Legal Systems in African Context: Progress and Prospects

Restorative justice has become a buzzword in progressive criminal justice reform throughout the world. It is both a new and an ancient paradigm of justice that has recently been given increasing attention by lawmakers and justice practitioners in a number of countries around the world. South African criminal justice practitioners and activists became aware of the modern restorative justice movement in the early 1990s, and this had a strong influence on the drafting of the Child Justice Bill. Some African countries also boast existing projects and emerging law reform measures which reflect the modern revival of restorative justice. Uganda was one of the first countries to embark on law reform to bring its laws in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Children's Statute was passed in 1996, and includes both child protection and child justice issues.