All one needs to know about Juvenile Justice Act 2015

Introduction –

Government of India originally involved for the justice of children through National Children’s Act 1960. But as the act was silent on many issues with regard to juvenile matters, the Act was replaced by the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986. India even ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). In order to be in acquiescence with the standards of the Convention the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 was repealed and replaced with Juvenile Justice Act, 2000. The Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 adopted this major amendment and categorised children into 2 categories i.e. “child in conflict with law” and “child in need of care and protection”. The Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 even defined a “juvenile” as a person who has committed crime and was below the age of 18 years.

The act also stated that the “child in conflict with law” couldn’t be treated the same way as the adult is treated for any crime committed. In case of a child, if he was found guilty then the maximum of three years in institutional care was provided to the convicted child. The child who was accused in any criminal matter was not taken to District court or Judicial Magistrate but were taken to the Juvenile Justice Board for their concerned hearing. The Act of 2000 also empowered the Child Welfare Committees (CWC) to deal with children who were in need of care and protection.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data showed that there was quite an increase in the number of crimes committed by juveniles especially ranging from the age group of 16-18 years and one of the famous culprits of the Delhi gang rape of 2012 was a juvenile who was few months short of 18 years and was hence tried as a juvenile and not as an adult.

As the accused was below the age of 18, so he could not be punished more than 3 years in the institutional care for the heinous crime committed by him. Thus, a change in the juvenile law was required for such heinous crimes committed by children aging from 16-18 years. In fact, a BJP politician Subramanian Swamy had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court asking that the juvenile boy should be tried as an adult, as he was released from the reformation home within 3 years in December 2015. This created a huge hue and cry among the people to lower the age of juveniles and thus questions were being raised on the credibility of Juvenile Justice Act 2000 as the implementation of the provisions of the Act was equally poor, therefore Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 was enacted replacing the older one.

Objective of the Act –

The main aim of enactment of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 was to accomplish the objectives and maintain the standard of the laws as mentioned in the Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC). The Convention majorly talked about the safeguards provided in case of children in conflict with law. The new Act also aimed at addressing the existing issues of the prior Act of 2000 such as the delay in adoption processes, lack of accountability of institutions, higher pendency of juvenile cases and much more. The Act also concentrated on the serious crime committed by the children of 16-18 age group as there was rise in the number of cases committed by teenage juveniles. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 came into force on 15^th January 2016, and repealed the earlier one.

Salient Features of the Act –

As stated above the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 has categorised children into two groups-

1. Children in conflict with Law

Some of the primary changes which were adopted by the Act of 2015 are mentioned below, which are known to be the salient features of the Act.

The Act treats all the children below the age of 18 years equally except for the age group of 16-18 who can be tried as an adult if they have committed some heinous crime.
A child of 16 to 18 years, who has committed the crime (serious offence) can be tried as an adult person if he was detained after the age of 21 years.
The punishment for a heinous offence would be attracting 7 years of imprisonment and a serious offence would attract the punishment of 3-7 years of imprisonment and in case of petty and trivial offences, the imprisonment would not be more than 3 years. (section 86)
No child can be given a death sentence or life imprisonment
The Act mandates the setting up of Juvenile Justice Boards in every district with a metropolitan magistrate and two social workers which shall include a woman. The Juvenile Justice Boards will conduct a preliminary inquiry of a crime committed by the child in a given time period and will decide whether the child should be sent to rehabilitation centre or to the child’s court where he will be tried as an adult. The board can take the aid of psychologist and psycho-social workers and other experts in order to deal with the matters of juvenile.
Children’s Court is a special court set up under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 or it can be a special court set up under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. In case there are no such special courts available within the jurisdiction then the juvenile can be tried in the Sessions Court which has the relevant jurisdiction to try these offences of the Act.

2. Children in need for Care and Protection –

For the children who are in need for care and protection, the Child Welfare Committees are to be set up in every district with a chairperson and four other members who have certain amount of experience in dealing the matters of children. Out of the four members of the Committee atleast one member should be woman. The committee further decides whether the abandoned child should be sent to care home or put up for an adoption centre or foster care.

Important Sections Of Juvenile Justice Act 2015 –

1. General principles (section 3)

The 2015 Act states the 16 important principles or general principles which work as guidelines for the government as well as for the institutions and other authorities which are constituted under the Act. Section 3 talks about these principles which are as follows-

Presumption of Innocence- this is the common rule that every child who has been accused for an offence shall be presumed innocent and no malafide intention will be ascribed to the child.
Best interest- the decisions made under this Act with respect to the child shall be made keeping in mind the best interest of the child
Principle of participation- every child shall have the right to participate in all the court processes and decisions that affect his interest and the child also has the right to be heard before the court or the Juvenile Justice Board and put across his/her viewpoint for the matter which may be taken into consideration keeping in mind the age and maturity of the child.
Family responsibility- the first and foremost responsibility of the child is on the biological family or on the adoptive parents. The family shall ensure to take care, nurture and protect the child
Positive measures- the measures taken for the juvenile/ child should be in his best interest and it should promote his well-being and facilitate his development by giving an enabling environment to the child and to reduce the intervention of the Act.
Safety- one of the essential parts is ensuring safety of the child and all the measures should be taken keeping in mind the safety of child, and the child should be protected from all kinds of harm, abuse and maltreatment
Principle of non-stigmatising semantics- there should be no use of adversarial or accusatory words during the processes pertaining to the child
Non-waiver of rights- the child is not permitted to waiver his rights under any condition; it will be considered invalid.
Privacy and Confidentiality- every child has the right to protect his privacy and confidentiality while the processes are ongoing
Equality and non-discrimination- there should be no discrimination of the child on the basis of caste, gender, creed, religion etc. every child shall be given equal opportunity to be heard and shall be treated equally.
Principle of Institutionalism as a last resort- Institutional care should be the last resort for any court to place a child over there unless it is absolutely necessary. There should be some serious injury done to the victim before the child is placed in the Institutional care.
Fresh Start- every child has the right to start his life afresh and to enable this, records of the child shall be erased and only under special circumstances they will still remain under record
Principle of repatriation and restoration- every child in the system has the right to reunite with his family post his decision or care period. The child should be restored to the same socio-economic and cultural status unless this goes against the child’s best interests.
Principle of diversion- judicial proceedings must not be used in case where the child is accused unless it is absolutely important and in the best interest of the child. In fact, alternate methods to deal with child in conflict with law should be used and promoted.

2. Juvenile Justice Board (section 4)

This provision deals with Juvenile Justice Board which is a board that is constituted for the sole purpose of hearing and inquiring regarding the matters of child in conflict with law. This board is constituted of a Principle Magistrate and two social workers, out of the two social workers which are appointed atleast one should be woman. Principle Magistrate shall take the final decision and it has to be noted that a Board won’t be operating from a regular court. The aim of this Board is to safeguard and protect the juvenile in conflict with the law as well as to deal with them in a different manner than the adult offenders as these juveniles have a tender mind. The procedure of Juvenile Justice Board is also different from the normal court proceeding and is comparatively easier, informal and kept confidential.

3. Child Welfare Committees (Section 27) –

This section speaks of setting up of Child Welfare Committees by the State government compulsorily and there can be one or more Child Welfare Committees constituted for each district. The committee cannot be appointed for a period of more than 3 years, and all the members should meet atleast 20 days in a month. There has to be induction training as well as sensitization of the members obligatory within the two months from the date of notification. The member of the Committee shall be actively involved in either health, education or welfare activities related to children for a period of atleast 7 years or should be a practising professional having the degree in child psychology or psychiatry or law or social work or sociology.

Under section 104 of the Act, the CWC also has the power to amend their own orders by receiving an application for the same on its behalf.

4. Child Welfare Police Officer and Special Juvenile Police Unit (section 107) –

The Rank of a Child Welfare Officer (CWO) as specified in the section shall not be below the rank of sub-inspector, with aptitude, appropriate training and orientation towards dealing with such child related matters. The Child Welfare Officer shall work in co-ordination not only with the police but also with the non-governmental organizations and voluntary organizations.

The Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) shall be placed in each district and to be headed by the police officer who is not below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police or above rank. Even the railway police dealing with children is included in SJPU.

5. Offences against children (section 74-85) –

The Juvenile Justice Act also states the offences which are committed against the children apart from dealing with the offences committed by child in conflict with law. The act has listed some of the major crimes that are committed against children and prescribed punishment for those offences too. The offences are as follows-

Section 74 deals with disclosure of identity of children of certain kind is prohibited as well as punishable. The newspaper and media are not allowed to show the identity of children who are part of some serious crimes or are the victims of serious crimes.
Section 75 prescribes punishment for cruelty towards a child and cruelty includes assaults, abandonments, abuse as well as wilful neglecting of the child. Section 76 penalises employment of child for purpose of begging for upto 5 years of imprisonment.
Administering any kind of intoxicating substances to a child is an offence under section 77 and further if the person is found using children for purpose of pedalling, smuggling such intoxicating substances like liquor or psychotropic substances will also be counted as offence under section 78.
Exploitation of child employee is strictly prohibited and the children above 14 years can be employed but they should be given proper wages and the work hours should be set accordingly. (section 79)
The adoption of a child should be done with proper procedure and guidelines, if not done appropriately the person can face punitive measures. (section 80)
The sale and procurement of children for any purpose is illegal and punishable under section 81 of the Act.
Any sort of corporeal punishment given to a child is also an offence and the person administering any sort of physical punishment to a child shall be liable for a punishment of upto 3 years of imprisonment. (section 82)
Using children for militant groups and other purposes is strictly prohibited under section 83 of the Act.
Kidnapping and abduction is an offence and even recognized under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the provisions shall apply here too. (section 84)
Any sort of offence committed on disabled children is highly looked down upon and thus the punishment for such offences is twice the punishment than for the regular offence. (section 85)

Case Laws –

In one of the famous murder case of Pradyuman Kumar, a 7 year old student of Ryan International School who was found outside the washroom with his throat slit, it was later found by the Police that the murder was committed by a 11^th Standard student and when reasoned he stated that wanted to delay the exams and parent teacher meeting of the school.
Another case of rape and sexual assault was framed against a four and half year old boy as it was alleged that the boy had sexually assaulted his classmate, by putting his finger and pencil in the genital areas of the victim who later suffered from private injuries, and according to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, the legal experts stated that there was an offence committed and there was a victim too, thus a case of rape was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Though, the police were unsure as to how to move ahead with the case as the accused was four and half year old boy and was exempted from punishment under section 82 of the IPC where nothing is an offence committed by a child under 7 years of age.

Conclusion –

Thus, it can be observed that Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 is one of the important legislations of India with respect to the offences committed against children and even regarding the offences committed by children. One of the major reasons for enactment of this Act was the Delhi gang rape case of 2012 where one of the accused was below 18 years and thus, with the enactment of this Act the any juvenile belonging to the age group of 16-18 commits a heinous crime shall be tried as an adult. This act advanced uniform approach for welfare and protection of the children who are in conflict with law as well as children who are in need of care and protection. The legislation made a lot of concepts clearer and more specified in terms of law and how to deal with such children and treat them in the appropriate observation homes or institutional care via Juvenile Justice Board. The respective Act is a complete legislation with regard to the subject matter regarding children and juveniles.

Refer – Juvenile Justice Act, 2015

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This Article is Authored by Rhea Banerjee, Pursuing B.A.LL.B from Indore Institute of Law