The Act prohibits the publication of the name, address, school, place of occupation or any information that is likely to reveal the identity of any person under the age of 18 years who is being tried or has been tried in court except with the consent of a Magistrate, Judge or Minister. That consent can be given where it is considered just and equitable and in the public interest to have such publication.73 This protects the right to privacy of juveniles in contact with the law. The challenge is that of non implementation of this legal provision as reflected in the media where publications of details which reveal the identity of juveniles in contact with the law is common. The Constitution of Zimbabwe74 generally provides that court hearing shall be held in public. Parliament of Zimbabwe has elaborated on the constitutional provisions through the Courts and Adjudicating Authorities (Publicity Restriction) Act75 which allows the Court when it considers it necessary or expedient to do so to make the following orders, either on its own initiative or on the application of a party to the proceedings:  That all persons shall be excluded from the proceedings provided that I. the parties and their legal representatives shall be allowed to be present or ii. any person may be present when the decision of the court is made;  that the name, address or other information likely to reveal the identity of any person concerned or mentioned in the proceeding shall not be publicly disclosed;  that information revealing or likely to reveal any place or locality concerned or mentioned in the proceedings shall not be publicly disclosed; and  that the whole or any specified part of the proceeding shall not be publicly disclosed. Such orders may be made where the court considers it necessary or expedient to do so in the interests of the welfare of persons under the age of eighteen years.76 The CPEA further provides for special provisions relating to the punishment of juveniles from Sections 351 to 353. Section 351 of the CPEA provides for the manner of dealing with juveniles. The section provides that a court which has convicted a person under the age of 19 years may, instead of imposing punishment or imprisonment for that offence, order that the juvenile be taken before a Children's Court and be dealt with in terms of the Children's Act77 or, after ascertaining with the Minster responsible for social welfare that accommodation is available, that the child be placed in a training institute or reform school. A child placed in an institution or reform school shall remain there until after 3 years has lapsed from the date of the order, or he is released or discharged from the order in terms of the Children's Act.78 This section is important in promoting alternative measures to imprisonment which are aimed at the rehabilitation and reintegration of the child. The advantage of referring a convicted juvenile to the Children's Court is that “the conviction shall not, for the purposes of any enactment, be regarded as a conviction.” 79 This is however rarely used. Cases handled by JCT showed that some are not even aware of the provisions let alone procedure to be followed in referring cases to the Children's Court. This then results in children being sentenced harshly. Section 353(1) of the CPEA provides for corporal punishment of male juvenile offenders under the age of 18 years.80 The section goes on to provide for how that punishment should be administered. The punishment should be moderate and the strokes should not exceed 6. A medical practitioner should examine the child first and certifies if he is fit to have the corporal punishment. If not, the child is sent back to the magistrate who will decide on another option. The medical practitioner assessing the juvenile should prescribe the 73 Section 195 of the CPEA Section 18(10)(11) and (12) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe 75 Courts and Adjudicating Authorities (Publicity Restriction) Act Chapter 7:04 76 Section 3 of the Courts and the Adjudication Authorities (Publicity Restriction) Act 77 Children’s Act Chapter 5:06 78 Section 352(2) of the CPEA 79 Section 351(7) of the CPEA 80 See also Section 336(1)(e) of the CPEA which allows a court to impose corporal punishment upon a convicted male person below the age of 18 years. 74 18