Skip to main content

Rehabilitation Not Retribution Should be the Focus of Juvenile Justice

Rehabilitation Not Retribution Should be the Focus of Juvenile Justice 

An editorial on Government’s recently passed JUVENILE JUSTICE BILL 2015…..

(Click here to read Juvenile justice Care and Protection of Children bill 2015)

Highlights of the editorial:

·         The reform that came had certain much needed features like an expansion of the ambit of rape, and defining offences such as stalking and voyeurism.

·         The tendency to effect legal reform as a response to a singular event, when the nation is in the throes of emotion, is/was worrying.

·         Bill’s most controversial provision allows those who have completed the age of 16 years to be tried as adults, if they have committed a heinous crime.

·         The idea of having a juvenile justice framework is defeated, if we punish children as adults or keep them in contact with adult offenders.

·         Article 2 of the UNCRC shows that the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in it, does enjoin the State to treat all children in conflict with law equally.

·         The NCRB data shows that in terms of overall crimes committed by juveniles under IPC, during the period of 2004-2014, there has been a significant increase.

Screen Shot 2015-12-30 at 10.41.49 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-30 at 10.42.19 AM


·         over the last ten years (2003-2013), crimes committed by children as a percentage of all crimes committed in the country, have risen from 1.0% to 1.2%’.

·         Since in 2011, the Juvenile Justice Board ordered the SJPU (Special Juvenile Police Unit) to take stringent action against adults pushing juveniles into organized crimes.

·         Since the provisions of the POCSO Act do not recognize a child’s consent, the 17-year-old boy could potentially be tried as an adult. 

·         The new Bill that enables children, between 16 and 18, to be tried as adults is conceptually flawed. Its intention is to punish those who have committed heinous crimes, while its focus should be on alternative treatments (such as reformation, rehabilitation and re-integration with society).

·         we should focus more on preventing new crimes, rather than punishing the ones already committed.

·         The idea is not to establish harsher or milder punishments, but rather having an effective system that would lead to fewer victims

CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE EDITORIAL

Why a juvenile convict must be reformedbut should not be treated as an Adult?



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

India Tech Vision-2035

India Tech Vision-2035 India's technology thinktank under the ministry of science & technology has come out with `Technology Vision 2035' here at the ongoing Indian Science Congress, identifying the challenges ahead and how they can be dealt with through technological interventions while realising the dream of a developed India by the year 2035. The thinktank -Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) -in the vision document lists a technology roadmap for India, giving details of 12 sectors and technologies that in some cases exist but need to be deployed, some in the pilot stage that must be scaled up and technologies in R&D stage. It, in fact, talks about many future technologies, ranging from flying cars, real time translation software, personalised medicine, wearable devices, e-sensing (e-nose and e-tongue) to 100% recyclable materials among others which may be used in different areas to solve day-to-day problems “The trajectories del...

Delhi Dialogue to focus on trading blocs (TPP) and Impact of TPP on India-ASEAN ties

Delhi Dialogue to focus on Impact of TPP on India-ASEAN ties The  impact of the U.S.-led mega trading and political blocs on India-ASEAN ties  is likely to be the highlight of the 8th round of  Delhi Dialogue . One emerging mega bloc, the  Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), received a major boost recently with the joining of Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore (ASEAN Countries). Diplomats are concerned that India will have to adjust to  the new set of security and economic rules  as increasing number of Southeast Asian countries join TPP, which began taking shape with the arrival of President Barack Obama to the White House in 2009. “The process of joining TPP by several countries in Southeast Asia has highlighted the conflicting segments in the Southeast Asian region. Delhi Dialogue will give us a chance to assess how India will have to adjust to these mega trading and political blocs  emerging in this region which is vital fo...

12 April is Observed as International Day of Human Space Flight

12th April is being observed as the International Day of Human Space Flight to commemorate the date of the first human space flight in the history of mankind every year.  In 1961 Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet Union (USSR) cosmonaut undertook first successful first human space flight on this day. And this historic occasion had opened the way for space study for the benefit of all humanity. This historic day is celebrated as Cosmonautics Day in Russia and some other former USSR countries. This year 2016 is 55th anniversary of First Human Space Flight. Background After UN General Assembly had passed its resolution A/RES/65/271 of 7 April 2011, United Nations (UN) had declared 12th of April as the International Day of Human Space Flight. The main objective behind international celebration of this day is to memories each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind. It also aims to reaffirm the important role of space science and technology...