Implementing Status of Juvenile Justice Act in Current Scenario

The Author is Rupam Banerjee from Noida International University.

The Parliament passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act in 2015 and it faced intense protest, controversy and debate on many of its provisions by the fraternity of child rights. It displayed the Indian juvenile delinquency law, juvenile justice Act 2000, and concedes for juveniles in conflict with law in the age group of (6-18) who being involved in heinous offence should be tried as adults.

Juvenile justice comes under criminal law and applies on people who are not old enough and cannot be held responsible for criminal offences as 18 years is the age set for criminal capability. A judge can sentence a juvenile by using a disposition order who has been found to be in delinquent circumstances.

The victim or the families of victims deserve justice if the family members are affected or even if  family member is killed by a juvenile offender, because each heinous crimes need to be punished to make a clear picture in the mind of a juvenile as to  what to be done and what not to be. The juvenile courts mainly focuses on the offender's age or reason or the actual nature of the crime that is committed. Even though the teenager have complete control over their thoughts and actions the majority of state consider children to be adult at the age of 18. It is very necessary that they are morally sound by that time otherwise they are likely to commit more crimes. The number of crimes committed by juvenile offenders has increased in the past few years which shows that how the boundaries have become blurred for the young people and this is a very scary fact and the scenario also allows that they are aware of the fact that how flawed our juvenile justice system is and this is seen as an advantage by them. Our juvenile courts are not provided with jury and offenders are not given  proper trial and all the decision are made by the judge which is often done with the help of a team of mediator for the children and their families. And if they are tried as adult then only they will be able to be tried by a jury.

In the current scenario one of the major problems of a juvenile offender being  tried as an adult is that, they could possibly be sent to an adult correctional facility which can be a very dangerous situation, especially if the juvenile is very young because the maturity to handle situation as in adult person is lacking in the juveniles. The implementation of Juvenile Justice is not easy but if a more serious crime has been committed then the judge may sentence him for a period of incarceration in a secured juvenile facility and then it may last for a year or more.

For the past couple of decades the frequent committing of serious crimes by young kids  has been on a steady rise, which brings up a very controversial topic that whether juvenile should be tried as adult or not. There are many differences between the justices system for adult and justice for juvenile and in adult court the sentence is harsh.

In recent times, the good implementation of Juvenile Justice Act is much needed because even though juvenile are kids but still they have the ability to differentiate right from wrong. The Act is quite challenging because if juvenile are given extremely harsh sentence it makes an impression on their mind that their factors is ruined and they cannot become anything but a criminal which further hinders their ability to seal themselves after their release which is very damaging for the society and especially for the juvenile and their families. Judges in Juvenile rather than sending the offenders to jail, they impose curfew house arrest and counselling to offenders but in adult court the offenders are sent to prisons. If the juvenile are sent in adult criminal records these records follow throughout their lives especially in getting decent job which becomes very difficult. 

The current situation of implementation of the Juvenile justice is quite complex due to many such reason and while implementing the few points must be especially taken care of:

Within 24 hours the juvenile should be brought before juvenile justice board and the age should be determined with reference to the date of commission of offence and it should be ensured that their privacy right are not violated and the judges in juvenile courts must be trained to recognize the social, educational and treatment needed of the children in crises. 

When there is a shocking increase in the number of juvenile offenders it is very important to deal with such case sensibly because the punishment given to them must focus on improving their morals which should prove helpful to grow them into responsible adults and not to raise criminals.