By Aditya Singh Raghav
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The Juvenile law enacted in the year 2000
was not implemented properly and there was a need to amend several provisions. The
enactment of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 brought many enhanced and effective
provisions which solved the problems faced under act of 2000. It can be said
that the 2015 Act is a right step forward as it has brought several provisions
for the care and protection of children and for dealing with children in
conflict with law.
But one provision which is highly criticized is the “trying of children of age 16 to 18 years as adults” if they are accused of heinous crimes. The provision was included after the Nirbhaya case and it can be said that public pressure compelled the government to include this provision.
Children are amongst the most vulnerable
sections of the society and it becomes important to provide them with protection.
To accomplish this, their rights need to be recognized.
However, the Juvenile Justice Act 2000 had
several loopholes which resulted in an increase in the number of crimes by juvenile
in the country, and juveniles were also often forced to get involved in crimes.
Additionally, instead of a flexible
procedure of sentencing, we opted for a rigid one.
Another major concern was that, when a
juvenile completed their sentence according to the juvenile justice system
procedure, how would their therapy and rehabilitation continue, and how could the
officers in charge keep track of their progress.
However, in terms of protecting the rights
of children, the Juvenile Justice Act 2000 was a progressive step. The laws before
the Act of 2000 were amended or changed as they were ineffective as deterrents
and couldn’t reduce juvenile crimes in the country.
The increase in crime rate led to the passing
of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015, which was highly criticized for violating the
UNCRC and certain articles of Indian Constitution. Still, this new law is a
credible enactment and we have to see in the future whether the purpose of the Act
to try children of age 16 to 18 years as adults to reduce the crime rate is
effective or not.
It is important to protect the rights of
children but it should be done along with reducing the crimes, especially among
juveniles.
The next article in the series discusses the UNCRC framework.
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Aditya is a 2nd year law student at National Law University Delhi. An adventurous person, he actively participates in sports activities and loves to go trekking. He is a football fan and you can easily find him discussing football matches with his friends. His interests include Commercial Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Competition Law.
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