Author:
Rubby Kalpesh Rajput
Asmita College Of Law
Juvenile Justice is a system of laws and policies formulated for the reformation and rehabilitation of juveniles. It aims to provide a platform to make them learn about the atrocities of crime and the consequences that arise from them. It helps to protect their interests by ensuring legal remedies when they are in a helpless situation and are falsely accused of any crime. The goal of Juvenile Justice is to prevent the perpetrators from committing more crimes and to support them in becoming good citizens.
A juvenile is a minor or a person below the age of 18 years who has committed an offence and cannot be arrested but can be apprehended. The accused cannot be tried in a criminal court and should be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and handled with due diligence and care. Unlike the Adult Criminal Justice System, the Juvenile Justice system is comparatively less rigorous and liberal. It is designed to facilitate specialised support, for example; access to legal assistance, bail, early release, education, counselling and family support to help juveniles overcome the factors that led to their criminal behaviour. They are treated humanely and corporeal punishment is not inflicted towards them. The Juvenile Justice Board stipulates a particular period for juvenile detention and the child may get released on probation. A great deal of care and supervision is required to reform and reintegrate the juvenile back into society.
What is Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is a comprehensive process that involves helping juveniles understand the serious repercussions of their actions so they can take corrective measures and return to society as law-abiding citizens. This process includes providing young offenders counselling, education and vocational training. The primary focus of the juvenile justice system is on reformative measures rather than punitive measures.
Procedure Regarding the Trial of Juveniles
The trial procedure for juveniles is distinct from the adult trial, it is relatively less stringent and the major focus is on Reformation and Rehabilitation.
When there is an FIR or a complaint registered against a minor, they will be presented before a Juvenile or Child welfare officer, in furtherance an inquiry will be enforced to determine whether that offence was petty or heinous. Based on the severity of the offence, the following steps would be taken by the Juvenile Justice Board:
If the juvenile is accused of a petty crime, he would be released and given a warning.
If it is a serious crime, he/she would be required to do community service, will be provided with counselling and would be released on probation if the officials observe good behaviour.
If he/she is accused of a heinous or brutal crime, will be kept in a Juvenile centre and will face trial when they attain the age of majority. In no case, the juvenile will be punished with either life imprisonment or the death penalty.
Rehabilitation of Juveniles
The Rehabilitation process begins with the formulation of a comprehensive development plan (which is also called an Individual child care plan) for the juvenile based on factors such as age, gender, family background and case history. This process is initiated to reform the child’s behaviour and self-worth in order to reinstate him/her back into society as a responsible citizen. This plan must fulfil the educational, vocational and counselling needs of juveniles. Most Rehabilitation centres collaborate with NGOs to ensure a relatively more smooth and secure rehabilitation process.
The Individual Child care plan involves the following steps:
Assessment of Rehabilitative needs of the juvenile
Monitoring the Child’s progress in the rehabilitation process
Preparation of Pre-release Report
Preparation Post-release Report
Assessment of the juvenile needs and monitoring their progress is the core of the rehabilitation process. If the needs of juveniles are not identified, the ascertainment of how the juveniles are to be rehabilitated becomes weak and irrelevant. Monitoring the child’s progress is also essential to determine whether the rehabilitation process is running smoothly and whether he/she is prepared to be released. In the real scenario, only a few delinquents are fortunate to be released, other unprivileged juveniles do not seem to exhibit any sort of development because of the poor and ineffective state of the Rehabilitation Centres. Most of the centres are not equipped to provide strong educational, counselling and vocational support to the young delinquents.
The Juvenile Justice Act is considered a milestone in the history of child legislation in India. This initiative was much welcomed as it laid special attention on the reformation and well-being of delinquents. However, ineffective implementation and lack of infrastructure restricted the working of the system. There is a need to reconstitute the system by delineating the roles of different departments – education, health, labour, etc to ensure a well-defined establishment of the JJ system.
Case Laws
Sheela Barse and Ors. Vs. Union of India (UOI) and Ors.
Citation: (1986)3SCC596, [1986]3SCR443
Decision by the court: It was held that all the states must had to ensure that the Children’s Act should be brought into force as soon as possible. All the States where the Children’s Act already exists must ensure that the same was administered properly. The Jail Manuals should be strictly complied and every District and Sessions judges must visit the district jail at least once every two months to ensure that everything was up to the code. The Union Government was supposed to deposit an amount of 10,000/- Rs. within two weeks in the Registrar of the Court, which the petitioner can draw to meet her expenses.
Hari Ram V. State of Rajasthan & ors.
Citation: (2009)13SCC211, [2009]7SCR623
Decision by the court: The amendments in the 2000 Act, for all cases which were pending on the date on which the 2000 Act came into force was that a person will be determined to be a juvenile in conflict with the law if they are alleged to have committed an offence when they were under 18 years of age. Ram, who was over 16 at the time of the offence but under 18 when the 2000 Act came into force, was therefore to be treated as a juvenile and the 2000 Act was applied to his case.
Barun Chandra Thakur v. Master Bholu & Ors.
Decision by the Court: The Board and the Children’s Court apparently were of the view that the mental capacity and the ability to understand the consequences of the offence were one and the same. If the child had the mental capacity to commit the offence, then he automatically had the capacity to understand the consequences of the offence. Thus it considered the opinion, is was the grave error committed by them. Hence, preliminary assessment can be done to try the juvenile as an adult.
Parag Bhati (Juvenile) Legal Guardian- Mother- Rajni Bhati Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and Ors.
Citation: AIR2016SC2418, (2016)12SCC744
Decision by the court: It was held that the benefit attached to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 would be applied to only such cases wherein the accused is held to be a juvenile on the basis of at least prima facie evidence. It was regarding his minority where the benefit was the possibilities of two views in regard to the age of the accused who is involved in grave and serious offence which he committed. Which gave effect to it in a well-planned manner reflecting his maturity of mind rather than innocence indicating that his plea of juvenility where he cannot be allowed to come to his rescue.
Conclusion
India is home to the largest youth population in the world and it is rightly said that youth are the future of a country, if youth are skilled, educated and headed in the right direction, the country will be in good hands. To make this possible, the state must strive to enact laws that are beneficial for the youth and to achieve effective implementation of the laws. The state bears the responsibility of protecting minors from criminal activity and supporting the reintegration of offenders into society. It is imperative to address the alarming rise in the number of youth criminal cases, to fulfil that, it is critical to adopt a comprehensive approach that prioritises prevention, early intervention, and rehabilitation. Although the juvenile justice system has progressed over the years, it still requires modifications and reformation such as delineating different departments of the Juvenile administration. By raising awareness and through a collaborative approach we can help the children and the youth to overcome the challenges and grow into productive members of the society.
