Juvenile Justice in India
Context:
A first-of-its-kind study by the India Justice Report (IJR) titled Juvenile justice and children in conflict with the law: a study of capacity at the frontlines was recently released.
The report highlights severe gaps in the system.
It reveals that 55% of cases before Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) remained pending as of October 31, 2023.
About Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015:
Child in Conflict with Law (CCL) is defined as a person who is alleged or found to have committed an offence and has not completed 18 years of age on the date of the commission of such offence.
The Act mandates the State Government to constitute one or more Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) in every district to exercise powers and discharge functions relating to CCL.
Juvenile Justice Board (JJB)
It is the adjudicating authority for children in conflict with the law.
Preliminary Assessment (Section 15):
In cases of heinous offences committed by a child above 16 years, the JJB conducts a preliminary assessment of their mental/physical capacity and understanding of consequences.
It may take assistance from psychologists or experts for this.
Orders (Section 18):
The Board can pass orders for the child to attend school, vocational training, therapeutic centres, or undergo de-addiction programmes.
Key Findings of the Report:
High Pendency:
On average, 154 cases remained pending with each JJB annually.
Pendency varies widely, from 83% in Odisha to 35% in Karnataka.
Infrastructure & Staffing Gaps:
24% of JJBs were not fully constituted (vacancies).
30% of JJBs do not have an attached legal services clinic
Data Transparency:
Unlike the National Judicial Data Grid, there is no central public repository of information on JJBs.
The study noted a weak culture of public data transfer with many districts rejecting RTI requests or failing to reply.