Law and You> Criminal Laws > Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 > Objects of Juvenile Justice Act
In the last few decades, the crime rate by children under the age of 16 years has increased. The reason for increasing the crime rate is may be due to the upbringing environment of the child, economic conditions, lack of education, and parental care. These are some of the basic reasons. And the most disappointing part is that children (especially under the age group of 5 to 7 years) nowadays are used as a tool for committing the crime as at that this stage their mind is very innocent and can easily be manipulated. In this article, we shall study the objects of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The laws relating to the child, having its seeds right from the enactment of the Constitution of India in the form of fundamental rights under Article 15(3) read with Directive Principles of State Policy under Article 39(e) & (f) along with fundamental duties under Article 51A, was the need of the society. The laws relating to the child was also expedient to be enacted due to accession by the Government of India to the Convention on the rights of the child, 1992, the standards set in UN rules for the administration of justice, 1985, UN rules for the protection of juveniles deprived of their liberty, 1990 and Hague Convention on Adoption,1993. And therefore, the law was enacted in the year 1986 in form of Juvenile Justice Act and the same was, as per the above said natural phenomenon of changes, changed time to time accordingly Le. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 and Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986:
The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 was enacted by the Parliament for the care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of neglected or delinquent juveniles. This legislation tried focusing on varied dispositional alternatives and recommended involvement of the voluntary organizations in the justice delivery process
In this legislation girls and boys were not referred to by uniform age, for boys it was 16 years and girls it was 18 years. Similarly, both the neglected juveniles and the delinquent juveniles were lodged together in the observation home until their inquiry was conducted and the competent authorities were juvenile welfare boards for the neglected juveniles and the juvenile courts for the delinquents. After inquiry, the neglected juveniles were placed in the juvenile homes and the delinquent juveniles were placed in the special homes. After care homes was also recommended for placing both categories of children. The word ‘Justice’ was adopted in this Central legislation after the Beijing Rules introduced the term ‘juvenile justice’ for the first time in International Law.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and protection of Children) Act, 2000:
This Act may be called the Juvenile Justice (Care and protection of Children) Act, 2000. It extends to the whole of India. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 deals with three types of juvenile or children problems—(i) juvenile in conflict with the law; (ii) child in need of care and protection; and (iii) rehabilitation and social reintegration of a child.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and protection of Children) Act, 2015:
The frightful incident of “Nirbhaya Delhi Gang Rape Case”, on December 16, 2012, shocked the whole nation and many debates were started among the legal fraternity and socialists. The main reason and issue of the debate was the involvement of the accused, who was just six months short to attain the age of 18 years. The involvement of the accused in such a heinous crime of rape forced the Indian Legislation to introduce a new law and thus, the Indian Parliament came up with a new law which is known as “ Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015. It came into force on 15 January 2016.
The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 replaced the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children), 2000, so that juveniles in conflict with the law, involved in Heinous Offences, can be tried as adults. There are differing views on whether juveniles should be tried as adults. Some argue that the current law does not act as a deterrent for juveniles committing heinous crimes. Whereas others are of the opinion that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requires all signatory countries to treat every child under the age of 18 years as equal. The provision of trying a juvenile as an adult contravenes the Convention. The main features of the new Act are as follows:
- The Act permits juveniles between the age group of 16-18 years to be tried as adults for heinous offences.
- Any 16-18 years old, who commits a lesser, i.e., the serious offence may be tried as an adult only if he is apprehended after the age of 21 years.
- Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) and Child Welfare Committees (CWC) will be constituted in each district.
- The JJB will conduct a preliminary inquiry to determine whether a juvenile offender is to be sent for rehabilitation or be tried as an adult.
- The CWC will determine institutional care for children in need of care and protection.
- The eligibility of adoptive parents and the procedure for adoption have been included in the Act.
- Penalties for cruelty against a child, offering a narcotic substance to a child, and abduction or selling a child have been prescribed.
Objects of the Act:
Former Chief Justice of India, Justice V.K. Krishna Iyer once stated that we need a penal code because the child is the father of a man and if we’re neglecting the underdevelopment in children, then we would be guilty of many faults and errors related to abandoning our children. The following are the objectives of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
- To lay down the basic principles for administering justice to a juvenile or the child in the Act;
- To make the juvenile justice system meant for a juvenile or the child more appreciative of the developmental needs in comparison to the criminal justice system as applicable to adults;
- To bring the juvenile law in conformity with the United Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- To prescribe a uniform age of eighteen years for both boys and girls;
- To ensure speedy disposal of cases as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India by the authorities envisaged under this Act regarding juvenile or the child within a time limit of four months;
- To spell out the role of the State as a facilitator rather than doer by involving voluntary organizations and local bodies in the implementation of the proposed legislation;
- To create special juvenile police units with a humane approach through sensitization and training of police personnel;
- To enable increased accessibility to juvenile or the child by establishing Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees and Homes in each district or group of districts;
- To minimize the stigma and in keeping with the developmental needs of the juvenile or the child, to separate the Act into two parts—one for juveniles in conflict with the law and the other for the juvenile or the child in need of care and protection;
- To provide for effective provisions and various alternatives for rehabilitation and social reintegration such as adoption, foster care, sponsorship, and aftercare of abandoned, destitute, neglected, and delinquent juvenile and child.
- To allow juveniles between the age group of 16-18 years to be tried as adults for heinous offenses.