JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

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 1. CONCEPT OF JUVENILE

Juvenile means a child. A child means a person who is consider being immature as compare
to adults. A child is considered to be under the guardianship of a guardian i.e., who takes care
of a child.

In legal terms, Juvenile is described as a person who is not considered to be held responsible
for the violation of laws. As described above, juveniles are the child, which in legal terms we
can say a person who is minor i.e., is a person below the age of majority. Age of majority
varies from country to country. In India age of majority is equal to or above 18 years of age.
So now we can say that a person who is below the age of 18 years and who is not considered
to be responsible for the criminal acts are known as Juvenile.

According to Juvenile Justice Bill which was passed in Lok Sabha on 7 th May 2015 says that
if a minor is involved in any heinous crime than the age group of a person to be tried as adults
will lie between 16-18. The new bill was passed after the Delhi Rape Case (Nirbhaya Case),
in which respectful change was made.

‘The violation of the law by a minor is usually said as delinquent acts and not as criminal
acts’.

2. INTRODUCTION

Delinquency is a legal term used to describe criminal act done by the juvenile. The concept of
juvenile delinquency1 has become a major issue amongst the society. The term “juvenile
delinquency” is quite broad. Different theories are explained by different people as to what
juvenile delinquency actually means. In its basic sense, juvenile delinquency refers to the
illegal act or behaviour by a person who is considered as a minor according to the statutory
age limit specified by the pertaining law2 in the country. The question arising here is who are
juvenile delinquents? Juvenile delinquent is a person who is under the age of 18 years and
commits an illegal act and the same act would be considered as crime if it would have been
committed by an adult. There are various associated reasons behind juvenile delinquents like
mental disorder or physical disorder or bipolar disorder.

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N.V Paranjape, Criminology and Penology (Central Law Publications, Ahmedabad, 13 thedn.)
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Juvenile Justice Act, 1986

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The concept of juvenile delinquency is new but the behaviour of child offenders which it
refers is very much known to everyone. In earlier legal system, child offenders were treated
with punishments and prohibitions. The modern legal system is quite liberal regarding laws
related to the child. Any offender who is below the age of 18 years is tried by the juvenile
justice court and not by the regular court. The juvenile justice court emphasizes on the
reformation of the child rather than punishing them. This process results in a huge limitation
as the child is not afraid of committing the act because he/she is aware of the fact that serious
action won’t be taken against him/her. On the other hand, if the same act would have been
committed by the person who is above 18 years of age then he/she will be tried by the regular
courts granting him/her serious punishments.

3. CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

There are umpteen reasons3 which transform a child from juvenile to juvenile delinquent. It
can be teen maturity, family challenges, Social maturity etc. some of the major causes of the
same are:

PEER GROUP: Teenage is that phase of a

person where he is developing and growing
through exploration, so there are probable
chances of teen misjudging a situation,
ultimately causing a child to take wrong
decisions giving rise to commitment of
crimes or illegal act. Being influenced by the
peer, a child attempts to commit such acts
which he/she knows that his/her parents
would not approve that.

The fear of being alone pushes a child towards peer group who then indulges him/her in
harmful and illegal activities. Since a child’s mind is still at developmental stage so he/she
can not foresee that negative actions are taken against him/her. There are various crimes
committed by the child or juvenile under the guidance of negative peer group, some of them
are:

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  Smoking and drug abuse: Negative peer group indulge a child in consumption of
cocaine and drugs. Though consumption of drugs and smoking is not a crime, but it is
illegal. A juvenile himself/herself have no idea about what smoking and drug abuse is,
but being in a negative peer group clears his/her way towards these dangerous
activities. These activities spiral out of the control of the juvenile making him/her
addicted towards these activities. This may lead a child to defy his/her family values,
break disciplines and commit many other illegal acts.
 Theft or shoplifting: There are many activities which require funding. A negative peer
group indulge a person to get that fund available at any cost. A child is asked to
arrange the funds either by stealing it from parents or from others. In less time, the
situation emerges where the child tries to steal the money of other people or he/she
attempts to commit shoplifting so as to sell the item shoplifted and to get money from
that. A negative peer group is the basic reason behind a child becoming delinquent.
 Illegal sex: In adolescents, it is a craze to have sexual intercourse at earlier age. They
consider it as pleasure of life and in most of the cases; sex becomes the addiction of
the child. A child who is considered as juvenile under the juvenile justice Act
indulges in sexual intercourse against the consent of the person he desires to be his
partner so as to satisfy his needs. These activities give rise to rape and other illegal
acts. In most of the cases, a child is influenced to indulge in such act so as not to be
the centre point of bullying in front of his peer group.

POVERTY: Poverty4 is one of the major reasons behind an adolescent committing crime. In
poor families, people do not have sufficient means to satisfy their needs. In those families,
generally both the parents engage themselves in some work but still they are not able to
achieve their survival ingredients. The parents then prefer to engage their child in some work
so as to earn some money instead of making them study higher. Working in industries, house
and other places at such younger age affects the mental status of the child, the child suffers
through mental trauma causing them to take wrong steps and hence they end up committing
crime known as juvenile delinquency. As childhood is the age of development of child,
working at such an age degrades the morale of the child and he/she end up indulging in
wrongful and illegal acts of which he/she himself also is not aware of.

FAMILY INFLUENCES: Family is considered to be one of the most important parts of

one’s mental health. One of the main causes of delinquency is family. A child since birth
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S.S. Srivastava, Criminology and Criminal Administration (Central Law Agency, Allahabad, 3 rdedn.)

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observes the family acts and learns from them. Children are considered to be pure, innocent,
so it’s a duty of parents to raise their children in a right way. We can say that, without proper
roots no plant can stand, just like that without right parents no child can be raised correctly.
So it’s a duty of parents to teach their child correctly. Family is responsible for a sensible,
rational, fair, decent, intelligent man. If family acts in a negative way, then child will likely to
follow their attitude. Child is considered to be innocent soul who learns from people around.
Weak bonds between children and family leads to deficient, inadequate, unpleasant behaviour
of a child and that irritation, anger of a child takes a shape of crime. A child needs a proper
care, love and when that care and love lacks from the life of a child then that leads to
criminals.

 Social problem in family: Social cause here means when family itself is involved in
social problems. It can be in any way. For e.g.: if a family is involved in gender
discrimination and discriminate between a girl child and boy child then that leads to
crimes in the society.
 Wrong parenting: Parents can be blamed for not raising their children correctly. When
parents lack to perform their duty then that may lead to depression, frustrations in a
child. This can be a main cause of delinquency.
 Economic problem in family: Family belonging to poor background leads a teenager,
selecting the wrong path or a negative path to fulfil their desires as a result of which
they get involved in delinquent acts.

SOCIETY INFLUENCES5: Society means people living together in a community. Society

plays an important role in developing teen’s personality, once a child develops a negative
feeling for the society then it may lead to juvenile delinquency. For e.g.: A child once
involved in negative peer group and commits a crime then he/she will always be considered
as a criminal in the eyes of the society, which can cause a negative feeling in the mind of a
child towards the society which leads to the juvenile delinquency.

4. JUVENILE UNDER THE IPC

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Section 82 and 83 of India Penal Code, 18606 deals with the juvenile cases.

Section 82 according to IPC says that: Nothing is an offence which is done by a child under
seven years of age. Here, a section protects a child under the age of seven years. It says that a
person under seven years of age is incapable of doing any crime because he/she has not
attained that mental ability to understand the nature of the crime. Thus, punishing a child who
is less than seven years of age will be injustice to him/her. In other words, we can say that, a
child does not have that capacity which is compulsory to commit a crime i.e., requisite of
mens rea.

Section 83 according to IPC says that: Nothing is an offence which is done by a child above
seven years of age and under twelve, who has not attainted sufficient maturity of
understanding to judge the nature and consequences of his conduct on that occasion. Here,
section explains that no child who is in between the age of seven and twelve can be convicted
of a crime of which he/she has no knowledge. That means, if a child has committed a crime
but he has no idea/ knowledge what he/she has done, why he has done and what will be the
consequences of his doing then he can’t be convicted for the said crime. For committing a
crime presence of mens rea is very important, if that is absent then proving a person guilty is
difficult. Such in a case of child, sec82and 83 of IPC protects a child from injustice.

In the case of R. vs. Krishna, in this case a minor was involved in theft case, a minor stolen
the silver chain and sold it further for 5 annas and the lower court acquitted the minor and
convicted the buyer. Minor was acquitted because he was protected under the sec83 of IPC.

In the case of Harilal Mallick vs. State of Bihar 7, in this case a child of 12 years tried to kill a
person with the use of sharp sword along with his two brothers, Court here in this case said
that: not only the age proof is required but also the maturity of a child is also need to be
proved i.e., understanding of nature of crime. If anything is absent then a child is not regarded
as an accused.

5. JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

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Surya Narayan Misra, The Indian Penal Code (Central Law Publications, Allahabad, 19 thedn.)
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1977 AIR 2236

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 A juvenile is a person who is Under the 18
years of age i.e. who is not a major in the
eyes of law, so if a juvenile commits any
crime then the treatment of the same is
governed by the ‘juvenile justice court’ 8
which is different from adult ones. Earlier,
the scenario was quite different. Juvenile9 is
defined as “a boy who has not attained the
age of 16 years and a girl who has not
attained the age of 18 years”. The definition given under this Act has more scope than that of
section 82 and 83 of Indian Penal Code. Later on, the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 rose the
age of Juvenile up to 18 years.

Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 was enacted to serve twofold purposes:

1. To treat the children who are in “conflict with the law” to be handled by the state
government.
2. To provide “care and protection” to the needy children to be looked after by state
government and child welfare committees.

Earlier, before the enactment of Juvenile Justice Act10, 2000, the young offenders were
treated as adult offenders only. A child, who is not mature enough to know the consequences
of his act, cannot be given such severe punishments as that of adults. So, to avoid this
injustice against minors, juvenile justice courts were established whereby a statutory age limit
of 18 years was fixed and any child offender below the age of 18 years is to be treated by the
juvenile justice courts. The major objective behind setting up of these courts was to
emphasise and develop the mental status of a child offender by sending him to rehabilitation
and reformation centres and to treat him with minimum possible punishment.

With the passage of time, the numbers of child offenders committing heinous crimes was
gradually increased. In this regard, Juvenile Justice Act was amended in 2015 and was named
as Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2015. The Act 11 was passed by Lok
Sabha on 7th May 2015 and by Rajya Sabha on 22nd December 2015 and came into force from

8
N.V Paranjape, Criminology & Penology (Central Law Publication, Ahmedabad, 13 thedn.)
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Section 2(a) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986
10
S.S. Srivastava, Criminology and Criminal Administration (Central Law Agency, Allahabad, 3 rdedn.)
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Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2015

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15th January 2016. The Act aims to ensure proper care, protection, social integration and
overall development of the child. The amended Act lowered down the age limit from 18 to 16
in case of heinous crimes committed by child i.e. any child above the age of 16 years 12
committing any heinous crime will be tried as an adult. A juvenile can be given punishment
for maximum of 3 years or 1095 days thereafter, he shall be released on probation. The other
punishments may be by way of fines, rehabilitation centres, juvenile schools, by engaging
them in employment etc.

Various points of distinction can be made in respect that why juvenile justice system is
different from adult (or regular) criminal system:

1. Juveniles are prosecuted for delinquent acts and not for crimes whereas, the adult
criminal system initiate proceedings against crimes of adults. But, if the act is of
serious nature and committed by a person above 16 years of age then it shall be
considered as crime and to be tried in accordance with adult criminal system only.
2. The maximum tenure of punishment of juvenile is 3 years whereas, in case of adult
system, it is life imprisonment or death penalty.
3. The juvenile offenders are punished by sending them to rehabilitation or reformation
centres or by charging fine or by making them work at specific place for a certain
time period but such medium does not comply in case of adult offenders.
4. In juvenile system, the aim is to develop the morale of the child and to give decision
to serve minor’s interest. On the other hand, in adult system, the aim is to punish the
criminals.

6. JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES:A

COMPARATIVE STUDY

Different countries follow the different ways to treat juvenile offenders. Hence, they have
different Juvenile Justice System. A comparative analysis 13 of Juvenile Justice System of
these countries can be drafted as:

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN U.K: English penal reformists were of the view that
the delinquency amongst juvenile will get disappear once they (juvenile) grow older. Inspired
by this thought, reformists adopted different ways to deal with child offenders in United
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Juvenile Justice( Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
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N.V Paranjape, Criminology & Penology (Central Law Publication, Ahmadabad, 13 thedn.)

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Kingdom. They suggested dealing with such offenders outside the framework of criminal
law.

The “Ragged Industrial School Movement” was the first corrective institution, started in
England. Various enactments were made in this regard. The Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879
provided that a child below the seven years of age is incapable of committing a crime and
cannot be convicted for the same. The children and Young Persons Act, 1933 claimed that for
the treatment of children and young offenders, remand homes shall be established in England.
And lastly, Criminal Justice Act, 1982 was enacted in U.K which liberalised the laws relating
to juveniles.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN U.S.A.: In United States, initially state agents were
allotted the task of protective care of juveniles. Later on, such duty was fed into probation
officer. Each state of the United States is having a separate Juvenile Court. The working
system of a Juvenile Court in USA is such that at first instance, police takes the custody of
the Child offender. It is up to the discretion of the police officer to either keep the child in
custody or to release him immediately. He may also allow his parents to take his custody. The
notification regarding the same is to be given to the juvenile court. An interrogation session is
also done by the police whereby he takes the finger prints and photographs of the child
offender. While the trial of the juvenile is going on, a hearing shall be given to the probation
officer whereby he will decide that what treatment shall be given to the juvenile and if the
juvenile violates such orders as made by the juvenile court then he shall be sent to certified
schools.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN NORWAY: In Norway, a Municipal Juvenile Welfare

Committee is framed, consisting of five members. All the delinquent acts of the child
offenders are dealt by this committee. According to Child Welfare Act, 1953, a delinquent
child is allowed to stay at his home and it is the duty of the Juvenile Welfare Committee to
take best possible preventive measures to keep the child away from delinquency by visiting
the child’s home at regular intervals.

7. ENGLISH AND INDIAN LAW14

ENGLISH LAW: Juvenile borstals are the institutions which are considered to be as long
term treatment of juvenile offenders. The term borstal came from England and with the
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N.V. Paranjape, Criminology & Penology with Victimology (Central Law Publication, Ahmedabad, 16 thedn.)

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efforts of Sir Alexander Paterson, borstal was constructed throughout the country. In
accordance to English law, borstal training is most likely to be meant for adolescents between
the age group of fifteen and twenty-one. Training is given only to the juveniles who are found
guilty of a crime and not to anyone else. Treatment maximum time period is of two years and
offender may get release after six months treatment. Even after the release of an offender, he
may be called for regular supervision. Borstal institutions take care that an offender is
properly made as an ideal for the society, make them self-disciplined and suitable for work in
society.

INDIAN LAW: Borstals were established in India in 1897, in Borstal School and
Reformatory Schools Act, 1897. Borstal in India provides proper education and vocational
training for offenders. In India also borstal institutions are for juvenile who are found guilty
of a crime. After the release from borstal supervision officer maybe appointed if required.
Many states can release juvenile on a bond of security with or without sureties. Many states
have used various methods to make institutions as well planned and adequate institutions
states such as Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab among which, Maharashtra is
considered to be more apt and have friendly environment for the juveniles. Borstal homes are
for the adolescents between 18 and 23 of years of age.

8. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS

After independence, various provisions of constitution were enacted to build the mental and
physical development of children in the field of juvenile justice. Part III and part IV of the
constitution i.e. fundamental rights and directive principles of state policy respectively
contains some special provisions15 with respect to children.

 Article 15(3): Gives permission to a state to make special laws related to women and
children.
 Article 23: Prohibits trafficking of humans and forced labour.
 Article 24: Restrict the employment of a child less than 14 years of age in mines,
factories and other hazardous occupations.
 Article 39(e): Directs the state to safeguard the statutory age of a child to enter into
jobs.

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Qadri S.M.A. and Ahmad Siddique, Criminology & Penology (Eastern Book Company, Ahmedabad, 6 thedn.)

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  Article 39(f): Directs the state to provide safe and secure facilities for the healthy
development of a child and protect them against youth exploitation.
 Article 45: Directs the state to provide mandatory education to all children less than
14 years of age.
 Article 47: Guides the state to improve nutrition and raise the standard of living.

9. INTERNATIONAL CONCERNS

Juvenile delinquency is a big international concern16. To take a step forward, following steps
were decided in the said UN Conventions.

In the second UN congress on prevention of Crime and Treatment of offenders in 1960,it was
said that juvenile delinquency is an act which is not committed by an adult, it is done by a
child and if an adult do it then it will regarded as offence in eyes of law.

The Sixth UN congress on the prevention of crime and treatment of offenders took place in
Venezuela in 1980, discussed the problems of juvenile delinquency and decided further that
Standard Minimum Rules shall be made for the proper administration of the juvenile justice.
It was also further stated that a child has his rights which should not be taken up by any
provisions or anybody so there should be laws to protect the rights of children. Proper
analysis was done, where the special attention was given in accordance with the rights and to
the nature of crimes in which juveniles are involved in urban as well as in rural areas.

Another UN conference was done at Beijing in which following standard minimum rules
were made:

Definition of a child17: It was clearly stated that a child is a person who is below the age of
18years.The UN Convention on Rights of the Child, 1989 draws set of attention towards the
civil, economic, cultural, political and social rights of every child. These are:

 Right to survival: Which includes the standard of living, right to life, also includes the
right to name and nationality.
 Right to protection: This specifies the right to freedom and right to special protection
in emergency and other conflicts.
16
UN Conventions
17
UN Conventions on Rights of the Child, 1989

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  Right to development: This includes education right, development and care rights.
 Right to participation: This includes freedom of expression, information, religion.

10.RECOMMENDATIONS

 To control the activities of juvenile delinquency, proper implementation and

advancement of Juvenile Justice Act is needed with the proper professional training.
 Proper orientation and counselling programmes shall be held in primary schools to
guide children, what is right and what is wrong for them as well as for the society.
 Counselling sessions shall be conducted for parents as well for superlative growth of
their children.
 Instead of granting punishment to juvenile, the child shall be awarded with such
measures which help him to regain his self-confidence and positivity towards the
society.
 Government shall make programs for enhancing literacy rate, eradicate poverty,
improve nutrition and raise the standard of living.

11.CONCLUSION

We all want society should be free from criminals,

So for that we all need to take a step forward.

And make it possible to create a society without criminals.

Children are the roots of the society,

And we shall water the roots on time so that it leads to beautiful flowers.

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