The youth is the future of any country, the children of today are the adults of tomorrow. They are an asset to this country and should be well-nourished physically as well as mentally, with a healthy socio-cultural environment. The word ‘Juvenile’ derives its meaning from the Latin word ‘Juvenis’ meaning ‘young’. The basic reasons behind the increasing rate of crimes committed by the children could be economic conditions, lack of education or parental care. Now a day’s children falling under the age group of 5 to 7 years are used as a tool for committing the crime as they are very innocent and their mind can be easily manipulated. The term Juvenile and Child has the same meaning but the difference lies in the context of law, a child accused of a crime is not prosecuted as an adult and is sent to the child care centre, while Juvenile is a person aged between sixteen and eighteen. A young person charged with criminal offences is a Juvenile offender who is prosecuted as an adult in legal proceedings.
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
-Nelson Mandela
DEFINITION OF CHILD AND JUVENILE UNDER THE JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT, 2015 AND OTHER VARIOUS LAWS
The term child means a person who has not attained the age of 18 years and is not matured enough to understand what is wrong and right. Most of the countries have adopted the principle “Doli Incapex”, which means a person is deemed incapable of forming the intent to commit a crime or tort, especially by reason of age. According to the penal laws, a child between the age of seven to twelve can only be convicted of a crime only when the crime is heinous and they had sufficient knowledge to understand the consequences of their actions. The Juvenile (Care and Protection) Act, 2015 Section 2 (12) defines a ‘child’ as a person who has not completed eighteen years of age, further, it classifies into two categories-
- child in conflict with the law, the child who committed an offence and is under the age of 18 years on the date of commission of the offence.
- child in need of care and protection, children from deprived and marginalized sections of society as well as those with different needs and vulnerabilities.
Children Act,1960 Section 2(e) describes a child as a boy who has not reached the age of sixteen years or a girl who has not reached the age of eighteen years. Whereas the United Convention on the Rights of Child, 1989 defines child means a human being below the age of eighteen years unless the law declaration applicable to the child, the majority is attained earlier.
HISTORY OF JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN INDIA
After the independence of India, The Children Act 1960 came into play. The Act not be adopted by all the states led to different law being applied in different parts of the nation. To bring uniformity in the system the Juvenile Justice Act 1986 was enacted to provide care, protection, development and rehabilitation of neglected or delinquent juveniles. To protect the best interest of the juvenile offenders, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a convention on the Rights of Child in 1989. The Convention states that to protect the social – reintegration of juvenile, he shall not be subjected to judicial proceedings. This led India to repel the Juvenile Justice Act 1986 and gave effect to a new act called “The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
The frightful incident of “Delhi Gang Rape Case”, forced the Indian Legislature to amend the previous act twice- first in 2006 and later in 2011. The act was replaced soon by The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015. The aim is to integrate the laws relating to children suspected and found to be in conflict with the law and children in need of care and protection through caring and taking into account their basic needs through proper care and security, growth, treatment and social integration, by adopting a child-friendly approach to the adjudication and disposal of matters in the best interest of children. The Act also focuses on the rehabilitation of young offenders through numerous childcare centres and institution. The highlights the formation of two main bodies that would deal with the young offenders, i.e., the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB’S) and Child Welfare Committee’s (CWCs).
JUVENILE JUSTICE BOARD AND CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE
The Juvenile Justice Board shall be formed in each district for the exercise of powers and the discharge of its duties relating to juveniles in conflict with the law. The JJB shall perform a preliminary inquiry to determine whether a juvenile offender is to be returned for probation or is to be charged as an adult. In the same way, the Child Welfare Committee deals with all children who are ‘in need of care and protection’ i.e. children from deprived and vulnerable parts of society, as well as those with different needs and disadvantages, and aims at providing institutional care and protection and their rehabilitation, reintegration, and restoration.
COMPOSITION, POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF CWC’s AND JJB’s
- Each CWC shall be comprised of a Chairperson and four other members, of whom at least one member should be a woman and another expert on child-related issues.
- CWC’s deals with the children who belong to the deprived sections of society as well as those with specific needs and disabilities, while JJB’s deals with those accused of a crime.
- The CWC has the exclusive power to administer all activities related to children in need of treatment and care.
- The JJB shall have the authority to deal exclusively with all the proceedings under the Act, relating to children in conflict with the law, in the area of jurisdiction of such Board.
JUVENILE JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
The Constitution of India is considered as the fundamental law of India. Constitution provides rights and duties of citizens. It also provides provision for the working of the government machinery. Part III of the Constitution defines the Fundamental Rights for its citizens, whereas Part IV of the Constitution defines Directive Principles of State Policies (DPSP), which serves as general guidelines for the shaping of government policies. The Constitution of India provided for certain fundamental rights and obligations, for the welfare of children.
- Article 21A- Right to free and compulsory elementary education for all the children under the age of 6 to 14 years.
- Article 24- Right to be protected from any hazardous employment under the age of 14 age.
- Article 39 (e)- Right to be protected from being abused in any form by an adult.
- Article 39- Right to be protected from human trafficking and forced the bonded labour system.
- Article 47- Right to be provided with good nutrition and a proper standard of living.
- Article 15(3)- Special powers to the State to make any special laws for the upliftment and the betterment of children and women.
Hence, while drafting the Juvenile Act, 2015 the legislature considered all the required provisions laid down in the Constitution to protect children’s rights in all practicable ways.
CONCLUSION
Juvenile crimes are a bitter truth and to reduce the rate of juvenile crimes, the Act needs to be effectively implemented and awareness must be spread. The attitude and mindset of key actors in the system, such as the police, needs to be changed from prosecuting to transforming the youth on conflict with the law. There are various psychological, biological, physiological and personal factors responsible for juvenile delinquency. Change is possible through better social, economic conditions, creation of awareness and also through the change in people’s attitudes towards juveniles.
