The director of Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) William Bird says Wednesday’s Constitutional Court ruling that the identity of underage victims of crime should be protected even after they reach the age of 10 is a victory for human rights.
The case emanated from that of Zephany Nurse, who discovered when she was a teenager that she was kidnapped as a baby and did not want the media to name her.
The media had wanted to name her citing public interest.
The case related to the scope of protection provided by a section of the Criminal Procedure Act.
In its ruling the Constitutional court found that section 154(3) of the Criminal Procedure Act was constitutionally invalid to the extent that it did not protect the identity of children as victims of crimes.
Bird says the ruling is good news for children’s rights.
