Amendments to Juvenile Justice Act

Content:

Details of the New Amendments:

Inclusion of Serious Crimes as a new category:

• For the first time the category of “serious crimes” differentiating it from heinous crimes
• Both heinous and serious crimes have also been clarified for the first time, removing any ambiguity
• Crime like the possession and sale of an illegal substance, such as drugs or alcohol, will now fall under the ambit of a “serious crime’’.
• What this means is that 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.

Expanding the powers of district and additional district magistrates

• District magistrates (DMs) along with additional district magistrates (ADMs) will monitor the functioning of various agencies under the JJ Act in every district. 
• The agencies include the Child Welfare Committees, the Juvenile Justice Boards, the District Child Protection Units and the Special juvenile Protection Units.
• DM’s are also responsible now for ensuring that Child Care Institutions (CCI) falling in their district are following all norms and procedures.
• Before someone sets up a shelter home for children and sends their proposal for registration under the JJ Act to the State, a DM will have to assess their capacity and conduct a background check.
• 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.
• DM will also now be in charge of sanctioning adoptions, removing the lengthy court process.

Expanding the scope of the Juvenile Justice Act: 

• Child victims of trafficking and drug abuse and those abandoned by their guardians will be included in the definition of “child in need of care” and protection

Importance of these Amendments:

Enhanced monitoring of CCIs (Children’s homes)

• CCIs can be government-run, government-aided, privately run or run through government, private or foreign funding. 
• These institutions, while falling under the CWC and the state child protection units had very little oversight and monitoring. 
• A report filed by the NCPCR in 2018-19 found that 1.5% of the children’s homes do not conform to rules and regulations of the JJ Act.  Also, Out of the 7000 children’s homes (CCI), 29 per cent of them had major shortcomings in their management. 
• The NCPCR report also found that not a single Child Care Institution in the country was found to be 100 per cent compliant to the provisions of the JJ Act.
• Even to receive a license, after an application was made, if the children’s home were to not receive a reply from the government within 3 months time, it would be “deemed registered’’ for a period of six months, even without government permission. 
• The new amendment ensures that this can no longer happen and that no new children’s home can be opened without the sanction of the DM.

Swift adoption and rehabilitation of children

• Giving the DM powers of sanctioning adoptions will remove the lengthy court process.
• This hastens the process of adoption and ensure the swift rehabilitation of children into homes and foster homes

Oversight over CWC members

• There is no such provision currently to check if a person has a case of girl child abuse against him or her.
• With the DM checking the background of every CWC member the committees would be made safer for children.

Keeping Children out of adult justice system

• The clarification to the definition of heinous crimes means that 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.
• Heinous crimes with a minimum imprisonment of seven years pertain mostly to sexual offences and violent sexual crimes.
• This provision has been made to ensure that children, as much as possible, are protected and kept out of the adult justice system.

Provisions Juvenile Justice Act 2015

• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 has come into force from January 15, 2016 and repeals 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 specifies procedural safeguards in cases of children in conflict with law. 
• It seeks to address challenges in the existing Act such as delays in adoption processes, high pendency of cases, accountability of institutions, etc. 
• The Act further seeks to address children in the 16-18 age group, in conflict with law, as an increased incidence of crimes committed by them have been reported over the past few years.

Key Provisions

• Updated Legislation: The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 repeals the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
• Removes negative connotation in nomenclature: The Act changes the nomenclature from Juvenile to child or ‘child in conflict with law’. Also, it removes the negative connotation associated with the word “juvenile”.
• Special Provisions for Age 16-18 years: One of the main provisions of the new Act was that juveniles charged with heinous crimes and who are between the ages of 16-18 years would be tried as adults and processed through the adult justice system. This provision received an impetus after the 2012 Delhi gangrape in which one of the accused was just short of 18 years, and was therefore tried as a juvenile.
• Powers of Juvenile Justice Board: 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 (set up in every district). Also Child Welfare Committees must be set up in every district. Both must have at least one woman member each.
• Streamlined Adoption Related Clauses: Another major provision was that the Act streamlined adoption procedures for orphans, abandoned and surrendered children and 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
• Inclusion of New Offences: The Act included several new offences committed against children (like, illegal adoptions, use of child by militant groups, offences against disabled children, etc) which are not adequately covered under any other law.