NGCOBO J [121] However, discretion must be confined, structured and checked. This is the function of the Constitution and the law. [122] In Dawood, albeit in a different context, we held that discretion “permits abstract and general rules to be applied to specific and particular circumstances in a fair manner.”108 Judicial officers are provided with discretion to ensure that the principles and values with which they work can be applied to the particular cases before them in order to achieve substantive justice. Discretion is a flexible tool which enables judicial officers to decide each case on its own merits. In the context of the appointment of an intermediary, the conferral of judicial discretion is the recognition of the existence of a wide range of factors that may or may not justify the appointment of an intermediary in a particular case. [123] What must be stressed here is that every child is unique and has his or her own individual dignity, special needs and interests. And a child has a right to be treated with dignity and compassion.109 This means that the child must “be treated in a caring and sensitive manner.”110 This requires “taking into account [the child’s] personal situation, and immediate needs, age, gender, disability and level of maturity”.111 In short, “[e]very child should be treated as an individual with his or her own individual 108 Dawood and Another; Shalabi and Another; Thomas and Another v Minister of Home Affairs and Others [2000] ZACC 8; 2000 (3) SA 936 (CC); 2000 (8) BCLR 837 (CC) at para 53. 109 Paras 10-4 of the Guidelines. 110 Para 10 of the Guidelines. 111 Id. 64