Recently, a Group of Ministers (GoM) chaired by the Home Minister met to discuss proposed amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) (JJ) Act, 2015. The GoM meeting was convened to create greater synergy between ministries on the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2018
The 2015 Act addressed two key issues :—
- First “apprehension, detention, prosecution, penalty or imprisonment, rehabilitation and social re-integration of children in conflict with law”
- Second “procedures and decisions or orders relating to rehabilitation, adoption, re-integration and restoration of children in need of care and protection”.
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 :-
- Improvement Over the Act of 2000: The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 replaced the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 to comprehensively address children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection.
- Change 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”.
It also includes several new and clear definitions such as orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children; and petty, serious and heinous offences committed by children - Special Provisions for Age 16-18 years: Included special provisions to tackle child offenders committing heinous offences in the age group of 16-18 years.
- Mandatory Constitution of the JJ Board: It mandates setting up Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees in every district. Both must have at least one woman member each.
- Adoption Related Clauses: A separate new chapter on Adoption to streamline adoption procedures for an orphan, abandoned and surrendered children,
Also, the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) was granted the status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more effectively.
The Act states that the adoption of a child is final on the issuance of an adoption order by the court. Currently, there are 629 adoption cases pending in various courts. - 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.
- Child Care Institutions (CCI): All Child Care Institutions, whether run by State Government or by voluntary or non-governmental organisations are to be mandatorily registered under the Act within 6 months from the date of commencement of the Act.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2018 :-
- The Bill provides that instead of the court, the district magistrate will issue adoption orders to address the high pendency of adoption cases.
- The Bill also seeks to transfer all pending matters related to adoption before any court to the district magistrate having jurisdiction over the area.
- The proposed amendments intend to expedite proceedings.
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