The Team
| Karen Muller |
Karen Muller - Professor of Law- Director of Institute
- BA (Hons) LLB PhD
- PhD on Child Witnesses
- Expert on Communicating with Children in a Forensic Environment
- 15 years of Training on Child Witness issues
- Accredited IOM Trafficking Trainer
- Over 40 Publications on child issues
- Court Expert
- Consultancy to Government on Child Issues and Sexual Offences
- Participation in Law Reform
- Development of Programmes for Child Witnesses
- Completed numerous Research Projects on Child and Sexual Offence Issues
| Karen Hollely |
Karen Hollely - Manager of Institute- BA (Hons) (Psych)
- Currently completing Masters on Court Preparation for Children
- 10 years of Training on Child Witness Issues
- Accredited IOM Trafficking Trainer
- Expertise on Trauma arising from Sexual Violence and Sex Offenders
- Development of Programmes for Child Witnesses
- Completed numerous Research Projects on Child and Sexual Offence Issues
- Consultancy to Non-Governmental Organisations on Child Witness Matter
| Narnia Bohler-Müller |
Professor of Law at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University- BJuris LLB LLM (UPE) LLD (UP)
- LLD on Gender Equality
- Admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of the Republic of South Africa
- National Research Foundation rated researcher
- Over 35 publications on gender justice and human rights
- Consultancy to Government on HIV/AIDS, gender, human rights and access to justice
- Completed research projects on HIV/AIDS, sexual offences legislation and gender-based violence
- Conducted research amongst regional court magistrates regarding their perceptions about minimum sentences, 'substantial and compelling circumstances' and fact-finding during sentencing of sex offenders against children
- Conducted workshops on victims' rights
| Annette van der Merwe |
Associate Professor of Law at the University of Pretoria- Ph D, entitled ‘Aspects of the sentencing process in child sexual abuse cases’
- Published more than twenty articles on sentencing, the use of victim impact statements, therapeutic jurisprudence and child witness issues
- Presented sixteen papers at local and international conferences
- Trained prosecutors and presiding officers on a national and international level
- Peer evaluator for several South African Law Journals
- Lectures on Criminal Procedure and several LLM modules regarding evidentiary and procedural aspects related to child witnesses as well as aspects of sentencing
| Deon Minnie |
Regional Magistrate- B Juris (UPE); LLB (UNISA); LLM (Child Witness) (NMMU); Dip Med (OCN)(UK)
- 10 years Experience in Child Sexual Abuse Cases
- 20 years Experience in the Criminal Justice System
- Currently Completing Dip Couns (Inst NH)(UK)
- Consultancy to the Institute
- Expertise on the Grooming Process and Consent in Child Sexual Abuse Cases
- Co-authored Conference Paper read at 2008 SAPSAC Annual Conference (2008)
- Co-authored Two Publications with the Institute: Introducing the Child Witness (2nd ed) (2009) and Women and Children as Witnesses in Gender-Based Violence Cases (2009)
- Co-authored Train-the-Trainer Manual on Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007 (2009)
- Member of ARMSA
- Member of SAPSAC
| Michelle Mattheus |
General Administrator of Institute- Institute training Coordinator
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