The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of

Children) Bill, 2014

 Sec 82 & 83 of IPC
 Section 82 says nothing is an offence which is
done by a child under seven years of age.
 Section 83 says nothing is an offence which is
done by a child above seven years of age and
under twelve, who has not attained sufficient
maturity of understanding to judge the nature
and consequences of his conduct on that
occasion.
 Previous Legislations
• The Apprentices Act, 1850.
• The Reformatory School Act , 1876.
• The Recommendations of the Indian Jails
Committee, 1919-20.
• Children Act, 1960.
• Juvenile Justice Act, 1986.
 United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the
Administration of Juvenile Justice, 1985
• The Beijing Rules.
• A juvenile is a child or young person who, under the respective legal
systems, may be dealt with for an offence in a manner which is
different from an adult.
• In those legal systems recognizing the concept of the age of
criminal responsibility for juveniles, the beginning of that age shall
not be fixed at too low an age level, bearing in mind the facts of
emotional, mental and intellectual maturity.
• Juveniles in institutions shall be kept separate from adults and shall
be detained in a separate institution or in a separate part of an
institution also holding adults.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989
• The UN Convention on Rights of the Child, 1989 draws attention to four sets of civil, political, social,
economic and cultural rights of every child. These are:

• (i) Right to survival: Which includes the right to life, the highest attainable standard of health,
nutrition, and adequate standards of living. It also includes the right to a name and a nationality.
(ii) Right to protection: Which includes freedom from all forms of exploitation, abuse, inhuman or
degrading treatment, and neglect including the right to special protection in situations of
emergency and armed conflicts.
•
(iii) Right to development: Which includes the right to education, support for early childhood
development and care, social security, and the right to leisure, recreation and cultural activities.
(iv) Right to participation: Which includes respect for the views of the child, freedom of expression,
access to appropriate information, and freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
 Age
• The UNCRC states that signatory countries
should treat every child under the age of 18
years in the same manner and not try them as
adults.
Juvenile Justice (Care And Protection Of Children) Act,
2000
• The age for boys and girls was uniformly
raised to 18 years in accordance with the UN
CRC.
• It deals separately with two categories of
children i.e. ‘child in need of care and
protection’ and ‘juvenile in conflict with law’.
 Explained...
‘child in need of care and ‘juvenile in conflict with
protection’ law’
Who? is a child who due to who are alleged to have
various reasons is found in committed an offence.
difficult circumstances and
is in danger of survival and
growth.
Competent Authority? Child Welfare Committee. Juvenile Justice Board.
 Juvenile Justice Board(JJB)
• Composition:
• Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate
of the first class
• Two social workers, at least one of whom should
be a woman.
• All three people form a bench that are to function
as a unit.
 What does the 2000 Act say...
• Juveniles are not exposed to the media as
magazines, news papers and visual media are
not permitted to release the information
about the juvenile.
• Maximum Punishment – 3 Years.
 Rise in Juvenile delinquency
• Participation in illegal behaviour by minors.

• 30% rise in crimes by Juveniles in the period 2012-14.

• According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the

percentage of juvenile crimes as a proportion of total crimes has
increased from 1% to 1.2% from 2003 to 2013.

• 70% of the juveniles accused of crimes are in the age group of 16-
18.
• Rights of the victim.
• Recently, the Supreme Court while hearing a case
related to juvenile crime observed that the 2000 Act
needs to be reviewed due to increasing heinous
offences by juveniles. The law needs to deter juveniles
from committing heinous crimes and safeguard the
rights of victims.
• For crimes like rape and murder it is hard to conceive
that the juvenile is not aware of the consequences.
 The Juvenile Justice (Care &
Protection of Children) Bill, 2014
• The Bill replaces the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
• The Bill permits juveniles between the ages of
16-18 years to be tried as adults for Heinous
offences.
 What does the law say...
Offences committed by juveniles are categorized as:
• (i) heinous offences (those with minimum punishment of
seven years of imprisonment under IPC or any other law);
• (ii) serious offences (three to seven years of
imprisonment);
and
• (iii) petty offences (below three years of imprisonment).
• A juvenile cannot be given life imprisonment without the
possibility of release or death penalty.
• Any person who is between the ages of 16-18
years and has committed a heinous offence
may be tried as an adult, irrespective of date
of apprehension.
• In all other cases, juveniles will get a
maximum of three years in institutional care,
as determined by the JJB.
 How will the law proceed...
• In case of heinous offences, if a juvenile is apprehended before 21
years of age the JJB will conduct a preliminary inquiry. This will
determine his mental/physical capacity to commit an offence and
an understanding of its consequences.
• The JJB will then pass an order that recommends:
• (i) interventions like counselling or community service;
• (ii) staying at an observation home for a temporary or long-term
period; or
• (iii) refer the juvenile to a Children’s Court to determine whether to
try him as an adult.
• A Children’s Court is a Sessions Court notified
under the Commissions for Protection of Child
Rights Act, 2005.
• For the purposes of this Bill, once a juvenile is
referred by a JJB to a Children’s Court it will
determine whether to try him as an adult or else
recommend counselling, stay at observation
home, etc.
 Adoption:
• The Central Adoption Resource Agency
(CARA) will frame regulations on adoption.
 Global Picture
• In England and Wales, for several offences, children above
the age of 10 are held to be criminally liable.
• In Australia, the prescribed age is 14-18 years for children
to be responsible for their actions under criminal law.
• In the United States, many states have the age of 12 years
for holding children responsible for criminal acts.
• In New York and Texas, the age is 17 years.
• In Bangladesh, it is 16 years and in Denmark, it is 15 years.
 Also...
• Psychologists now feel that the children are
grown-ups by the age of 14, responsible for
their actions.
 Views...
• Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi hailed the
passing of the Bill as a major legislative reform
measure. “Whether it’s a crime by a child or on a
child, the focus has to be on reform and
restitution and not just deterrence’’.
• The protection framework provided under this
law is extremely robust.
Let not perfect be the enemy of
good.
CRITICISMS
 Statistics
• 56% of the juveniles accused of crimes come from
families whose annual income does not exceed 25,000.
• 1 in 8 juvenile ‘criminal’ is an orphan.
• Just 1.2% of all crimes are committed by juveniles.
• 6% of all rape accused are juveniles.
• 87% of all juvenile ‘criminals’ never went to a High
School.
Against UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child.
 Against Article 20(1)
No Ex post facto Criminal Legislation
 Rise in Juvenile Delinquency?
• Age of consent for sex – 18 Years.
 Justice Verma Committee
• “We felt that if a child less than 18 years is
subjected to a normal trial and a normal jail,
there remains no chance of a rehabilitation, they
often turn into hardened criminals, repeat
offenders. Moreover, the child’s brain at that age
is still in its formative stage, they are not fully
mature yet to understand the full implications of
their action’’.
 Parliamentary Standing Committee
• “(The) existing juvenile system is not only
reformative and rehabilitative in nature but
also recognises the fact that 16-18 years is an
extremely sensitive and critical age requiring
greater protection. Hence, there is no need to
subject them to different or adult judicial
system.”
 No word on JJB reforms...
• Pendency of cases before JJB – 45,258.
 Other Issues
• Most cases of juvenile crimes stem from
substance abuse.
• ‘Guess the Age’.
 Asian Centre for Human Rights
• A 2013 report titled ‘India’s Hell Holes’ has
extensively documented the incident of child
sexual assault in juvenile justice homes.
 Expected Questions
Q. No 1: Consider the following statements and answer the question
given at the end:
1) Children can complain directly to the UN Committee on the Rights
of the Child about alleged violations of their rights.
2) Rape victims name cannot be disclosed under any circumstance.
Which of the above statements are correct:
a) Only 1.
b) Only 2.
c) Both.
d) None.
 Long Answer Questions
Q. No 1) Civil society activism and public opinion are the
tools that can be used to force the Parliamentarians to
divorce obstructionism and focus on legislating laws for
the larger good. Comment on the pros and cons of
such tools.
Q. No 2) Women and children are the two vulnerable
sections of our society. Suggest innovative measures
that can eradicate, or at least curb, violence against,
and exploitation of these groups.