CRIMES BY JUVENILE
INTRODUCTION
Children are considered to be gifts from God and our greatest personal as well as national assets. We as individuals, parents, guardians and society as a whole have a duty that children should be allowed and provided opportunity to grow up in a healthy socio-cultural environment so that they could become responsible citizens, physically fit, mentally alert and morally healthy. It is the duty of the State to provide equal opportunities for development to all children during the period of their growth which would reduce inequality and ensure social justice. Children are expected to be obedient, respectful and have virtues and good quality in them. However, due to various reasons, certain percentage of children do not follow settled social and legal dictum. Such children are most often than not get involved in criminal behaviour which is known as juvenile delinquency or juvenile crime.
Crime by juveniles is a harsh reality in India. In recent times juveniles were found to be involved in most heinous of the crimes such as murder and gang rape. It’s a disturbing trend and society as a whole is anguished by such criminal acts by children. Many experts believe that the present law is inadequate to deal with the situation and we need changes in it so that for heinous crimes juveniles may also be tried and punished as adults.
Causes of Juvenile Delinquency :
There is no single cause or simple explanation for the development of delinquent behaviour. Some of the reasons are:
(1)Bad company, (2) adolescent instability and impulses, (3) early sex experience,(4)mental conflicts, (5) extreme social suggestibility, (6) love of adventure, (7) motion picture, (8) school dissatisfaction, (9) poor recreation, (10) street life, (11) vocational dissatisfaction, (12) sudden impulse; and (13) physical conditions of all sorts.
THE JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT,2000
The Juvenile Justice Act 2000 lays down a non-penal protective juvenile justice system for children alleged to have committed an offence. While the legislation itself is well-intentioned, there are many stumbling blocks in its implementation, chief among them the difficulty of establishing whether an offender is a child or not, in a country where millions do not have birth certificates or other records
The Criminal Justice System (CJS) consists of the legal provisions defining offences, providing punishment for those offences, procedures for investigation of those offences, prosecution and trial leading to conviction or acquittal of accused persons. Initially, CJS dealt with all persons committing offences. However, since 1920, special laws have been made for children committing offences and presently it is the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 that prescribes different procedures for investigation and trial of cases where children are alleged to have committed an offence.
JJA 2000 is applicable to the whole of India, except the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and lays down a non-penal protective juvenile justice system for them. JJA 2000 applies to all children who have not completed the age of 18 years who may have committed an offence or may be in need of care and protection. This legislation was passed to bring the law in conformity with international legal provisions contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Beijing Rules for Administration of Juvenile Justice System, Riyadh Guidelines and the Rules Relating to Children Deprived of Liberty.
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015
The objective of the amended Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015, passed by Parliament is a collective reform and restoration even if it takes the route of stiff punishment for certain adult crimes committed by juveniles or children below 18.
Law, when inadequately understood, undermines the effort of all those who may be correctly investing in the objectives and implementation of law. Let’s briefly understand what the law says after the amendments passed by Parliament in the last few days.
Most importantly, juveniles committing heinous crimes such as rape and murder and who are between 16 and 18 years can now be tried as adults if the Juvenile Justice Board after due deliberations comes to this assessment. The Board will comprise a metropolitan magistrate and two eminent social workers actively involved in health, education or welfare activities for at least seven years or practising professionals with a degree in child psychology, psychiatry, sociology or law. The emphasis is on professionals with experience. They will collectively decide on a case-to-case basis, unlike the situation before, where there was no option and no discretion as is the case in several Western countries.
Conclusion:
The heinous crimes such as rape, murder etc totally destroy the moral of the victim's family and if it's a rape then it's a lifelong stigma for the girl and her family member. So the amendment which has been made gives a magistrate power to decide if a minor between ages 16 and 18, accused of rape or murder or other heinous crimes, can be tried as an adult in a regular court by measuring his mental maturity.