Amendments proposed to the Juvenile Justice Act – Explained pointwise

The Union Cabinet recently ushered in some major amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 which defined “Juvenile” or “Child” as a person who has not completed 18 years of age, in a bid to bring in clarity and also entrust more responsibilities on bureaucrats when it comes to implementing provisions of the law.

Salient provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015

The salient provisions of the 2015 Act are

1. The Juvenile Justice Act 2015 changed the nomenclature from ‘juvenile’ to ‘child’ or ‘child in conflict with law’.
2. The Act defined terms such as abandoned, orphaned and surrendered children.
3. The Act categorized the crimes committed by children into three categories. Such as petty, serious and heinous offences.
4. The Act provided for setting up of mandatory Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) and Child Welfare Committees (CWC) in every district. Also, these boards and committees must have at least one woman member each.
5. The Act made the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) a statutory body. This facilitated better performance and functions of CARA.
6. All Child Care Institutions (CCI) have to register themselves under the Act within 6 months from the date of commencement of the Act.
7. Children in the age group of 16 – 18 years can be treated as adults in the case of heinous crimes. But for treating them as an adult the JJB has to assess the child’s physical and mental capacities and certify the child.

Key-features of the Act

1. The Act provides that the Juvenile Justice Board will inquire about a child who is accused of a serious offence. Serious offences are those for which the punishment is imprisonment between three to seven years.
2. The Act provides that an offence which is punishable with imprisonment between three to seven years will be cognizable (where arrest is allowed without warrant) and non-bailable. The Bill amends this to provide that such offences will be non-cognizable.
3. The Act prescribes the procedure for the adoption of children by prospective adoptive parents from India and abroad. On the acceptance of the child by prospective adoptive parents, a specialised adoption agency applies to a civil court to obtain the adoption order.
4. As per the Act, in cases where a person living abroad intends to adopt a child from his relative in India, he is required to obtain an adoption order from the court. The Bill amends this to empower the District Magistrate instead, to issue such adoption orders.
5. The Bill provides that any person aggrieved by an adoption order passed by the District Magistrate may file an appeal before the Divisional Commissioner, within 30 days from the date of passage of such order. Such appeals should be disposed within four weeks from the date of filing of the appeal.
6. The Act provides that there will be no appeal for any order made by a Child Welfare Committee finding that a person is not a child in need of care and protection. The Bill removes this provision.
7. Additional functions of the District Magistrate: These include: (i) supervising the District Child Protection Unit, and (ii) conducting a quarterly review of the functioning of the Child Welfare Committee.
8. The Act provides that an offence against children under the Act, punishable with imprisonment of a term more than seven years, will be tried in the children’s court. Other offences (punishable with imprisonment less than seven years) will be tried by any Judicial Magistrate.
9. The Act provides that states constitute one or more CWCs for each district for dealing with children in need of care and protection. It provides certain criteria for the appointment of members to CWC. For instance, an appointee should be: (i) involved in health, education, or welfare of children for at least seven years, or (ii) a practising professional with a degree in child psychology, psychiatry, law, or social work.
10. The Bill specifies certain additional criteria for the appointment of CWC members. It provides that a person will not eligible to be a member of the CWC if he: (i) has any record of violation of human rights or child rights, (ii) has been convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude, and such conviction has not been reversed, (iii) has been removed or dismissed from service of the central government, or any state government, or an undertaking owned by the government, or (iv) is part of the management of a child care institution in a district.