In this article, Vidushi Pandey discusses ways to improve the Juvenile Justice System of India.

The current scenario of the Juvenile Justice system in India

Article 14 of the Constitution of India provides to all its citizens with the right to equality whether the juveniles, adults or others. Juveniles are the one upon whom the development of the country lies. The rates of crimes by the Juveniles in a developing country like India is increasing day by day.

The term Juvenile has been originated from the Latin word ‘Juvenis’ that means ‘young’. A child who has not completed 18 years of age is called Juveniles. They are the real assets of our country or one’s nation.

In India, the cases related to juvenile, its trails and sentencing are governed and proclaimed by the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000.

After the commencement of this Act there were still many controversies regarding the validity of the law and whether it gives justice or not.  Then Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 was passed by the Parliament of India as an amendment to the previous Act. Its objective was to supersede the Indian Juvenile delinquency law, and act of 2000, so that juveniles in conflict with the law in the age group of 16-18, involved in the heinous offence, could be lived as adults and convicted under particular sentences.

There is a great need to improve the juvenile justice system of the country in order to get a good system

Work of Juvenile Justice Board

1. As referred in section 4 of the Act, a special training program must be prepared and the officers of the Board including the Principal Magistrate should be given training of child psychology and child welfare.
2. Ambiance of the place where the Board holds inquiry should be child friendly. Wearing of black coats, using raised platforms or dais etc should be avoided. Practice of making the juvenile stand in front of the Board should be stopped. The child must be made comfortable and feel free from fear of any person. Sittings can be held by the Board in the observation homes.
3. Basic infrastructure like computer, typewriter, stenographer, furniture and buildings should also be provided to the Board for smooth discharge of duties.
4. There should be a proper maintenance of files and case records.
5. Video linking of the homes should be provided for children to facilitate inspection and supervision by the Board to keep a check on anything done against the best interest of the child.
6. At least one of the two social workers in a Board should be a person with a minimum qualification of law degree.
7. The Board should be provided with a list of experts in the field of psychology, counseling, clinical psychiatrist, NGOs, panelists of advocates and fit institutions and fit persons, observation homes, special homes and voluntary organizations who are dedicated to the field of child welfare. The services of such persons may be utilized. The officers manning the juvenile courts/Boards need to be sensitized to the development need of the juvenile in which case, flexible enough to respond to new discoveries in social sciences research and willing to invest in the experiment with promising new interventions for offenders.
8. For giving good services to the juvenile and the parents of the child, they should be treated psychologically in consultation with a psychiatric. For the same, a psychologist and one social worker, who has awareness of the relevant law, must be appointed in the Juvenile Justice Board.
9. Co-operation of NGOs and other social organizations may also be sought for by the JJ Board in addition to special juvenile police unit and probation officer. Probation officer should be given the sufficient training as to that how they have to prepare the social investigation report which will help the JJB. Lady probation officer is appointed instead of government probation officer for the preparation of social investigation report.
10. One government welfare official should be appointed by the government to work as a liaison officer between the NGO and Juvenile Justice Board child welfare committee. In this regard, the State Government Welfare Department may organize seminar, sensitization and orientation program inviting all the probable officials, police personnel who are responsible for better delivery of justice to the children.

To know more about introduction and overview of the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection Act, 2015, please watch the video below:

Treatment of Juvenile

1. Juvenile should be brought before Juvenile Justice Board within 24 hours.
2. The age of the juvenile should be determined with reference to the date of commission of the offence. A detailed scientific investigation for determination of the age is not required.
3. The Board should ensure that privacy rights of the juvenile are not violated and section 21 of Juvenile Justice Act is strictly complied with in letter and spirit.
4. The juvenile has the same Constitutional safeguards like other adult offenders. The statement of the juvenile under section 313 Cr PC should be recorded and if he/she wants to adduce evidence then that should also be allowed.
5. In no case the juvenile shall be sent to prison in default of payment of fine or default of furnishing security.
6. Whenever a juvenile is produced before a magistrate not empowered to exercise the powers of the board under the Juvenile Justice Act such magistrate should without any delay record such opinion as regards the juvenile and forward the records and the juvenile to the Board and the board shall hold the enquiry as if the juvenile had originally been brought before it.
7. Judges in the juvenile courts should be trained to recognize the educational, social and treatment needs of the children in crisis.
8. Without there being proper infrastructure or its proper implementation remains incomplete. This part should also be simultaneously dealt with by all concerned government or nongovernmental agencies.

9. There is religion based adoption system in India. It needs to be under uniform law not based on religion and a comprehensive inter-country adoption law is also required.
10. For proper implementation and giving relief to the juveniles determination of age is a relevant factor. In India because of many reasons many children do not have birth certificates and so, the implementation of the registration of Birth and death of the children should be made in a full-fledged way.

Procedure of Inquiry

1. Principal Magistrate should not be entrusted with any other work of the criminal court except the JJB as the Board is required to complete the enquiry within 4 months.
2. Due to the variations in state rules from state to state, there is an ambiguity regarding proper implementation of provisions of the Act. Therefore, common rules should be followed throughout India in all JJ Boards.
3. Stay in special home or observation home to be ordered only in exceptional cases and for strong reasons which are to be recorded.
4. The board should conduct independent and private inquiries with the juvenile to ascertain whether he/she was abused, sexually or otherwise by anyone or is suffering from any disease and if it so the juvenile be sent to government hospital for checking and treatment.
5. The Board should also ensure that the police officer who apprehends a juvenile should inform the parent or guardian of the juvenile regarding such apprehension.
6. The Board shall not adjudicate the proceedings without calling for the report of probationer officer.
7. Summary procedure prescribed should be adopted during enquiry.
8. Child should never be asked to state as to whether the child admits the offence or not.

9. Monthly group meeting should be organized of all departments which are engaged in the welfare of the child i.e. District Judge, members of J.J.Board, welfare officer and superintendent of the observation home etc for discussing the program for welfare and betterment of children.
10. Juvenile Justice Board should conduct awareness programmes about offences against children in every school situated in their jurisdiction through legal aid campaign.
11. The Board may also be complainant and lodge the case in any regular court when it is found that provisions of section 21,23,25,26 have been violated and offence is committed against the juvenile by any person who has been given actual control or control of the juvenile.

Rehabilitation/Shelter Home/Observation Home

1. There should be separate homes for juveniles and the destitute should not be mixed with the juveniles. Homes should not be constructed like jails. The homes for children should be video linked to facilitate inspection and supervision by the Board so as to keep a check on anything done against the best interest of the child. Also, surprise visits should be made at the special homes, juvenile homes and observation homes. Senior citizens should be involved as community resource person to look after the well being of the children in various homes with their expertise in different fields.
2. Schooling of the children in the homes up to the age of 14 should be made compulsory.

They should be given the best of the facilities and opportunities like any Boarding school (hostel) making a course of moral science and civics compulsory for those who are in homes.

For the welfare of juvenile, juveniles must be allowed to go on leave and released on licen the e during examination so that he can continue with his studies. Sponsorships should be provided for education of juveniles in good institutions. Personality enhancement courses should be organized.

3. For better welfare of juvenile games, sports and other functional programmes may be organized in observation home and institution and encourage the juvenile to participate in these programme so they connect themselves with society. During festival seasons some cultural programmes should be organized in the homes for the inmates with the assistance of voluntarily organizations.
4. Adoption used in section 41 should be defined to avoid conflict.
5. The property right of the juvenile on adoption be incorporated in the Act in clear terms.

Police

1. The state governments should be directed to establish a special juvenile police unit in every district and the unit must be specially instructed and trained in child psychology and child welfare. The public prosecutors handling the cases should be sensitised and given training with the juvenile police.
2. As soon as a juvenile ‘in conflict with law’ is apprehended by the police he/she should be placed under the charge of the special juvenile police unit or the designated police officer.
3. A time limit should be fixed for investigation. Juvenile police officers who investigate the case, must submit the final form within 60 days or 90 days depending upon the nature of the offence from the date of complaint.
4. A social worker may be associated in the investigation made by the police officer. In the child cell at least one lady police officer should be posted/appointed.
5. The police department also plays a very important role in ensuring child protection. But, practically police officials are not aware about provisions of the JJ Act. Hence, awareness programmes should be conducted at the police station level wherein Principal Magistrate and members of Juvenile Justice Board, members of child welfare committees and NGOs should also be involved.

Few other provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act which requires improvement

1. The High Court should take initiative to create and establish more and exclusive Juvenile

Justice Boards in order to dispose Juvenile cases within specified period as intended in J. J. Act, of 2000.

2. The Juvenile Justice Board should be made functional on all working days and the proceedings be held on all working days.
3. The Act should be amended to enable the JJB to directly entertain complaints of child for offence against them instead of being through police so that the child can give his complaint without any fear.
4. The JJ Act, 2000 does not make any difference between a male and a female child. Such scheme of the JJ Act however fails to take a note of the fact that the female juvenile being highly vulnerable is likely to be more comfortably and conveniently exploited and even abused adversely. Such a female juvenile needs special protection even at an observation home or at a place of safety, notwithstanding the fact that voluntary social organizations may come forward to provide a place of safety. An inbuilt safety mechanism is required to be provided to such a female juvenile in the Act itself.
5. Provision should be made to divert at least 25% of the fine amount collected by the criminal courts at each place towards creation of a juvenile welfare and rehabilitation fund, at the disposal of the J J Board of the particular place/area to be utilized by it in day to day rehabilitation need of the juvenile or child concerned.
6. Section 16(1) of the Act should be amended and expression “life imprisonment”, be substituted by expression “any imprisonment”. This shall be in consonance with the Legislative intent in section l6 (2) of the Act.
7. The Act is silent as to whether a juvenile involved in a TADA/POTA/NDPS Act case can be bailed out under section l2. To avoid any confusion and give immediate relief to the juveniles the Act should specifically provide for bail even in cases of above said categories.
8. The Juvenile Justice Act is silent about doing justice to the victims who have been victimized in the hands of juveniles. Necessary provisions/amendments should be made in this regard.
9. ‘Protective custody’ should be defined in Juvenile Justice Act to avoid any confusion.
10. The Act should make it clear as to when enquiry commences. Section 14 being silent about it may create confusion.
11. Voluntary social organisation with necessary government supervision and assistance should be allowed to run after care programmes to build a meaningful and constructive after care programme in order to rehabilitate the inmates by helping them to secure jobs in various government and private undertakings.
12. Until special police units are constituted investigation of cases of juveniles should be done by the specially trained police officers for which a training should be imparted to them.
13. Orientation courses, seminars, and awareness programmes should be organized by government on juvenile justice on regular intervals to enable the functionaries imbibe the message discussed and conveyed to them.
14. It is not enough to make good legislation unless it is honestly, strictly and scrupulously enforced without fear and favour. The Juvenile Justice Act has been enacted for the purpose of providing care and protection to the child. So the functionaries of the JJS should enforce the Act honestly, strictly and without any fear and favour.

15. The primary purpose of JJS being protection of the child, it is required to adopt measures for keeping the child integrated with the family and within the mainstream of the society. The Advisory Board should be established at the central, state, district and city level for integration of the children with the family. The Advisory Boards should be provided infrastructure and facility so that desired qualitative output can rendered by them.

16. The community participation should be maximised.
17. NGOs working on the street and with children should be increasingly involved. For children without family, every efforts should be made to find out an alternative family placement, failing which institutionalization may be resorted to.
18. The pattern of the SOS children’s villages which stood recommended as far back as 1920 by the Indian Jail Committee 1919-20 should be followed by the homes established or recognized for placing children. Community services for education, vocational training and recreation along with other children in the society may be used by these homes to ensure that the institutionalized juveniles are not marginalised and that the standard of programmes for the institutionalized children is at par with those for other children.
19. The community based programmes should be under close supervision to ensure fulfillment of obligation by the child and the person in whose care juvenile is placed under the placement order. For this purpose the number of probation officers/social workers and case workers be also increased to the standardized ratio between such workers and children.
20. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) was set up in March 2007 under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, an act passed by Parliament in December 2005. The Commission’s Mandate is to ensure that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms are in consonance with the Child Rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Commission should focus and evolve programmes for all categories of children co-ordinating various programmes, undertaking follow-up of its recommendation with various other bodies and departments to create a database for policy formulation and review.
21. The states should establish a clear relationship between JJA and other legislations that affect the life of the children covered under its scope.
22. There is need to evolve alternative ways of dealing with children. Merely renaming the existing structures as by done the JJA serves no purpose. The state should start experimental projects with alternative ways for dealing with children and after successful evaluation they should be made part of the enforceable law.
23. Probation and other community based programmes, apart from being cost effective should be preferred for their potential for ensuring better care and rehabilitation of juveniles.