P a g e | 65 9.3 Children that have infringed the law - administration of juvenile justice (Article 17) Legislative The Constitution of Lesotho at Article 26 provides for equality & justice for its citizens. Article 12 provides anyone charged with a criminal offence a right to fair trial. The penal age of a child in Lesotho varies according to which Act they are being prosecuted under. Part XI deals with Children in Conflict with the Law. The Act in section 79(1) espouses that a child under age of ten (10) years cannot be prosecuted. It goes on to say in section 79(2) that a child between ten (10) and fourteen (14) years will be presumed to lack the capacity to know right from wrong and can therefore not be criminally prosecuted. It is for the prosecution to rebut this presumption. A child over the age of fourteen (14) years, the CPW Act deems can be prosecuted. Children under age of fourteen (14) years cannot be detained in a detention centre according to section 156(1) of the CPW Act. The Penal Code (2010) itself says that a child under seven (7) years is not criminally responsible and a child above seven (7) years and below fourteen (14) years is not criminally responsible unless proven otherwise. The difficulty is that this is not in line with the African Charter and is yet the most utilised of the legislation amongst prosecutors. Some prosecutors in the more remote Districts have not sighted a copy of the CPW Act, so still utilise the outdated provisions of the Penal Code. The Sexual Offences Act (2003) has varying definitions of “child” depending on its Parts. For the purposes of Part III Offences Against Children (e.g. child molestation) a child is under sixteen (16) years and for purposes of Part IV Commercial Sexual Exploitation of a Child a child is under eighteen (18) years. Part XIV of the CPW Act covers Restorative Justice. It envisages the establishment of Village Child Justice Committees, headed by the village Chief, to employ a range of alternative dispute resolution measures at the community level. Different types of forums for review of the crime would be equipped with varying tools of diversionary resolution techniques and punishment. Administrative In 2002, the MoHA established the CGPU, motivated by the increasing number of cases involving vulnerable children who were neglected, exploited or exposed to violence. CGPU is responsible for providing services to survivors of gender-based violence and investigation of cases of infants and children in need of care. The CGPU is operating nationwide, with branches in all 10 districts of Lesotho.