Dr Ann Skelton

Dr Ann Skelton is currently the Director of the Centre for Child Law in the Law Faculty at the University of Pretoria. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1981 at the University of Natal and majored in Speech and Drama and Classical Civilization. She went on to complete her LLB degree in 1998 at the same university. In 2005 she graduated from the University of Pretoria (UP) with an LLD degree. The title of her LLD thesis was “The Influence of the Theory and Practice of Restorative Justice in South Africa with Special Reference to Child Justice”.

From 1986 to 1988 Dr Skelton served as a Public Prosecutor with the Department of Justice. She was admitted as an Advocate of the High Court in 1988. Between 1988 and 1999, she worked for Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) holding different positions, namely Regional Director for the Pietermaritzburg Region, Director of the Applied Criminal Justice Project and National Co-ordinator in the Child Rights Project. Dr. Skelton left LHR to take up a position as National Project Co-ordinator of the UN Child Justice Project in 1999 and held that position until 2003.

In August 2003, Dr. Skelton was appointed in the Children’s Litigation Project at the Centre for Child Law (UP) where she has been working as Project Co-ordinator to date. She has also undertaken consultancy work for UNICEF in many different countries. Her other professional expertise includes fund-raising and fund management, legal drafting and policy-making, litigation, being editor and member of editorial committees, external examiner at other universities, and lecturing.