12 with the spirit and purport of the Constitution. International documents on child justice emphasise the re-integration of the child into society. Indeed the aims of re-socialisation and re-education must now be regarded as complementary to the judicial aims of punishment applicable to adult offenders.6 A child charged with an offence must be dealt with in a manner which takes into account his/her age, circumstances, maturity as well as intellectual and emotional capacity. [16] International law has ushered in what has been described as a ‘revolution’ for the administration of child justice.7 Four key international instruments that deal with children in conflict with the law are the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),8 and three sets of non-binding rules: the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh guidelines);9 the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules);10 and, the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (the JDL’s).11 The provisions of these international instruments are supplemented, closer to home, by the 6 Julia Sloth-Nielsen ‘Child Justice and Law Reform’ in C J Davel Introduction to Child Law in South Africa para 22.9. 7 Davel op cit para 22.1.2. 8 The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Resolution 44/25) was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1989 and ratified by the South African Parliament on 16 June 1995 whereafter the formal instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretary–General of the UN on 30 June 1995 and has been in force in South Africa since 30 July 1995. (See Skelton op cit Acta Juridica at 180.) 9 Resolution 45/112 adopted by the UN General Assembly on 14 December 1990. 10 Resolution 40/33 adopted by the UN General Assembly on 29 November 1985. 11 Resolution 45/113 adopted by the UN General Assembly on 14 December 1990.