Juvenile Justice System

Article 15 of the Constitution, inter alia, confers upon the State powers to make special provision for children. Articles 39 (e) and (f), 45 and 47 further makes the State responsible for ensuring that all needs of children are met and their basic human rights are protected.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children, ratified by India on 11th December, 1992, requires the State Parties to undertake all appropriate measures in case of a child alleged as, or accused of, violating any penal law, including

(a) Treatment of the child in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child's sense of dignity and       worth

(b) Reinforcing the child's respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others

(c) Taking into account the child's age and the desirability of promoting the child's reintegration and the child's assuming a constructive role in society.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act was enacted in 2000 to provide for the protection of children. The Act was amended twice in 2006 and 2011 to address gaps in its implementation and make the law more child-friendly. During the course of the implementation of the Act, several issues arose such as increasing incidents of abuse of children in institutions, inadequate facilities, quality of care and rehabilitation measures in Homes, high pendency of cases, delays in adoption due to faulty and incomplete processing, lack of clarity regarding roles, responsibilities and accountability of institutions and, inadequate provisions to counter offences against children such as corporal punishment, sale of children for adoption purposes, etc. have highlighted the need to review the existing law.

Further, increasing cases of crimes committed by children in the age group of 16-18 years in recent years makes it evident that the current provisions and system under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, are ill equipped to tackle child offenders in this age group. The data collected by the National Crime Records Bureau establishes that crimes by children in the age group of 16-18 years have increased especially in certain categories of heinous offences.

Numerous changes are required in the existing Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 to address the above mentioned issues and therefore, it is proposed to repeal existing Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and re-enact a comprehensive legislation inter alia to provide for general principles of care and protection of children, procedures in case of children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law, rehabilitation and social re-integration measures for such children, adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children, and offences committed against children. This legislation would thus ensure proper care, protection, development, treatment and social re-integration of children in difficult circumstance by adopting a child-friendly approach keeping in view the best interest of the child in mind.