ACERWC African Committee of Experts on the Rights & Welfare of the Child The Best Interests of the Child The Committee commends the State Party for all the measures, including its constitutional provision and very progressive court judgments especially from its Constitutional Court, to ensure the best interests of children. However, the Committee recommends that the State Party undertake further appropriate measures to respect and promote the principle of the best interest of the child not only in law, but also in practice, in policies, as well as in all settings including in the family and community settings. Concluding Recommendations by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) on the Republic of South Africa Initial Report on the Status of Implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child para 24. Lesotho in the Child Protection and Welfare Act No. 7 of 2011 under Section 4 entrenches the principle of best interest of the child by providing that ‘all actions concerning a child shall take full account of his best interests’ and ‘the best interests of a child shall be the primary consideration’ in any matter that concerns a child. The High Court of Lesotho in 2013 in the decision in Rex v Malefetsane et al commending the Act and the protection of the best interests of the child under the Act stated the following as captured in the box below: On an extra note, the court recognizes the Children Protection and Welfare Act No.7 of 2011, as a recent landmark legislative enactment which originates from the local initiative. It is, characteristically, comprehensive and very methodical in seeking to address the socio-legal concerns of a child through the process of interfacing the traditional and the international systems for the sake of the best interests of the child. In this celebrative spirit, however, there are some provisions in the Act which should as a matter of urgency be revisited for a consideration of their amendment. Rex v Malefetsane et al para 101. Although much progress has been done by many African states in establishing the best interests of child principle as a primary consideration in all actions concerning a child in their laws and constitutions, some states have not entrenched the principle in their domestic laws. For instance, Uganda’s Children Act 59, 1997 does not have a provision that states that the best interests of the child shall either be ‘the primary consideration’ or ‘a primary consideration’ in all actions concerning a child. The mention of the best interest principle in the 1995 constitution is as follows: ‘Subject to laws enacted in their best interests, children shall have the right to know and be cared for by their parents or those entitled by law to bring them up.’ However, the High Court of Uganda in the case of Re. Tebulotwa Agnes & Nakubulwa Norah Sebunya,37 stated the following as captured in the box below: 37 Tebulotwa Agnes & Nakubulwa Norah Sebunya (Family Cause 149 OF 2016) [2017] UGHCFD 16 (19 December 2017), available at https://ulii.org/ug/judgment/hc-family-division-uganda/2017/16 (accessed on 08 February 2019). 20