SKWEYIYA ADCJ other children‘s rights in the Constitution.36 The ―ambit of the [best-interests provision] is undoubtedly wide.‖37 [36] The contemporary foundations of children‘s rights and the best-interests principle encapsulate the idea that the child is a developing being, capable of change and in need of appropriate nurturing to enable her to determine herself to the fullest extent and to develop her moral compass. This Court has emphasised the developmental impetus of the best-interests principle in securing children‘s right to ―learn as they grow how they should conduct themselves and make choices in the wide and moral world of adulthood.‖38 In the context of criminal justice, the Child Justice Act affirms the moral malleability or reformability of the child offender. [37] A number of key principles arise from this approach to the best interests of the child offender. First, the law should generally distinguish between adults and children.39 As explained above,40 section 50(2) applies, without distinction, to adult and child offenders. 36 Minister of Welfare and Population Development v Fitzpatrick and Others [2000] ZACC 6; 2000 (3) SA 422 (CC); 2000 (7) BCLR 713 (CC) (Fitzpatrick) at para 17. See also Fraser v Naude and Others [1998] ZACC 13 1999 (1) SA 1 (CC); 1998 (11) BCLR 1357 (CC) at para 9. 37 S v M (Centre for Child Law as Amicus Curiae) [2007] ZACC 18; 2008 (3) SA 232 (CC); 2007 (12) BCLR 1312 (CC) (M) at para 15. 38 Id at para 19. At para 20, the Court further expressed the role of the law as being to ―create conditions to protect children from abuse and maximise opportunities for them to lead productive and happy lives.‖ (Footnote omitted.) 39 See Centre for Child Law v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others [2009] ZACC 18; 2009 (6) SA 632 (CC); 2009 (11) BCLR 1105 (CC) at paras 26-9, in which this Court explained the importance of differentiating the treatment of children from that of adults: ―The Constitution draws this sharp distinction between children and adults not out of sentimental considerations, but for practical reasons relating to children‘s greater physical and psychological vulnerability. Children‘s bodies are generally frailer, and their ability to make 20