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Amendments to Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children Act) 2015

Posted on March 16, 2021 by admin1  243

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Recently, the Government introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, seeking to increase the role of district magistrates and additional district magistrates in supervising various aspects of the law.

Rationale behind this

  • The Bill addresses some of the gaps flagged by the existing Act by the Supreme Court and provided better protection to children through the proposed amendments.

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children Act) 2015

  • It was introduced and passed in Parliament in 2015 to replace the Juvenile Delinquency Law and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children Act) 2000.
  • The Act seeks to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children as ratified by India on December 11, 1992.
  • It allows the trial of juveniles in conflict with the law in the age group of 16-18 years as adults, in cases where the crimes were to be determined.
  • The nature of the crime, and whether the juvenile should be tried as a minor or a child, was to be determined by a Juvenile Justice Board.
  • The Act streamlined adoption procedures for orphans abandoned and surrendered children.
    • The act had introduced foster care in India.
  • The existing Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) has been given the status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more effectively.
  • The law had also made provision that while adopting a child, priority is given to disabled children and physically and financially incapable children.
  • Special provisions have been made to tackle child offenders committing heinous offences in the age group of 16-18 years.
    • The Juvenile Justice Board is given the option to transfer cases of heinous offences by such children to a Children’s Court (Court of Session) after conducting the preliminary assessment.

What are the Proposed amendments?

Inclusion of serious crimes apart from heinous crimes

  • It has introduced a separate category of “serious crimes’’ apart from the existing “petty crimes” and “heinous crimes” that will ensure that fewer minors are tried as adults in most cases.
  • Juveniles between the ages of 16-18 years could also be tried as adults for a crime like the possession and sale of an illegal substance, such as drugs or alcohol, which will now fall under the ambit of a “serious crime’’.
  • For a juvenile to be tried for a heinous crime as an adult, the punishment of the crime should not only have a maximum sentence of seven years or more, but also a minimum sentence of seven years.
  • This provision has been made to ensure that children, as much as possible, are protected and kept out of the adult justice system.

Expanding the purview of district and additional district magistrates

  • The DMs and the ADMs in every district will get the power to monitor the functions of agencies responsible for the implementation of the Act, including the functioning of the district child protection unit.
  • The amendment empowers DMs and ADMs to authorise orders of adoption and proposes that appeals on the orders of adoption are referred to a Divisional Commissioner.
  • The proposed bill also makes a DM the grievance redress authority for the child welfare committees, and anyone connected with a child may file a petition before the official for passage of appropriate orders.
  • The DM will also carry out background checks of Child Welfare Committee members, who are usually social welfare activists, including educational qualifications, as there is no such provision currently to check if a person has a case of girl child abuse against him.
  • To hasten the process of adoption and ensure the swift rehabilitation of children into homes and foster homes, the amendment further provides that the DM will also now be in charge of sanctioning adoptions, removing the lengthy court process.

Source: IE

 
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