The document discusses juvenile delinquency and its causes in India. It defines juvenile delinquency as anti-social behavior by children and adolescents that violates social norms. Some common causes of juvenile delinquency discussed include poverty, family disintegration, biological factors, peer influence, and societal issues like cultural conflicts. The juvenile justice system in India aims to address juvenile delinquency through rehabilitation rather than punishment.
The document discusses juvenile delinquency and its causes in India. It defines juvenile delinquency as anti-social behavior by children and adolescents that violates social norms. Some common causes of juvenile delinquency discussed include poverty, family disintegration, biological factors, peer influence, and societal issues like cultural conflicts. The juvenile justice system in India aims to address juvenile delinquency through rehabilitation rather than punishment.
The document discusses juvenile delinquency and its causes in India. It defines juvenile delinquency as anti-social behavior by children and adolescents that violates social norms. Some common causes of juvenile delinquency discussed include poverty, family disintegration, biological factors, peer influence, and societal issues like cultural conflicts. The juvenile justice system in India aims to address juvenile delinquency through rehabilitation rather than punishment.
The document discusses juvenile delinquency and its causes in India. It defines juvenile delinquency as anti-social behavior by children and adolescents that violates social norms. Some common causes of juvenile delinquency discussed include poverty, family disintegration, biological factors, peer influence, and societal issues like cultural conflicts. The juvenile justice system in India aims to address juvenile delinquency through rehabilitation rather than punishment.
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Young offender and Juvenile
Justice Act, 2015.
Meaning of Juvenile Delinquency Delinquency has been derived from the Latin word delinquer which means 'to omit'. In simpler words it may be said that delinquency is a form of behavior or rather misbehavior or deviation from the generally accepted norms of conduct in the society. Penologists have interpreted the word "juvenile delinquency" differently. Generally speaking, the term refers to a large variety of disapproved behaviours of children and adolescents which the society does not approve of, and for which some kind of admonition, punishment or corrective measure is justified in the public interest. Thus, the term has a very extensive meaning and includes rebellious and hostile behaviour of children and their attitude of indifference towards society. Certain other acts such as begging, truancy, vagrancy, obscenity, loitering, pilfering, drinking, gambling etc. which vicious persons very often commit are also included within the meaning of the term juvenile delinquency . It may therefore, be inferred that a juvenile is an adolescent person between childhood and manhood or womanhood, as the case may be, who indulges in some kind of anti-social behaviour, which if not checked, may turn him into a potential offender. Caldwell prefers to leave the term vague and includes within it all acts of children which tend them to be pooled indiscriminately as wards of the State. Ruth Cavan observed that "irrespective of legal definition, a child might be regarded as delinquent when his anti-social conduct inflicts suffering upon others or when his family finds him difficult to control and he becomes a serious concern of the community." Some critics argue that the statutes defining the various delinquent acts are CAUSES Juvenile delinquency is become a global phenomenon There is a growing tendency among youngsters to be arrogant, violent and disobedient – hence there is a considerable rise in Juvenile delinquency. No one is a born criminal. The various circumstance both inside and outside of the house of the child play a significant role in shaping one’s life. The most common causes which associate with delinquent crimes are poverty, child abuse, mental conflicts, adolescent instability, drug abuse, abusive parents, family violence and anti-social peer group. 1. Poverty As far as India is concerned poverty is one of the major cause, because of which children inclines themselves towards criminal acts. Poverty forces a child to get involved in criminal acts. The vast majority of those arrested and convicted belong to poor economic status. Poverty engenders antisocial activities in many ways. Unsatisfactory human relations have been frequently seen to emanate from destitution and poverty. As poor people have lower mental resistance due to undernourishment and poor physical health. They live in slum and the neighborhood and the environment is not adequate as they have no other choice in the selection of residential locality. This leads to poor circumstances as the child are driven to seek their recreations on the streets. The budgeting problem fuels up the quarrels between the husband and wife and thus they are not able to give proper attention and care to their children though they have affection for them. Further, because of lack of money, the reasonable demands of school going children are mocked and education eventually suffers. Poverty does different things to different people, like for some its pressure can cause anti-social behaviour. 2. Industrial Development and Economic growth. Has resulted into urbanisation which has given rise to lot of problems such as housing, slum dwelling, overcrowding, lack of parental control and family disintegration. High cost of living – both the parents work and therefore children are neglected at home without any parental control. Temptations for luxurious life also lures youngsters to resort to wrongful means to satisfy their wants. 3. Disintegration of family system Disintegration of family system and laxity in parental control over children is yet another potential cause of increase in juvenile delinquency. Natural consequences of broken homes, lack of parental control, absence of security and want of love and affection towards children, contribute to juvenile delinquency. Once a child feels neglected, he is bound to go astray and this furnishes a soothing ground for juvenile delinquency. The children need affection, protection and guidance at home and therefore, they have to be handled very carefully. Greater emphasis should be on preventing them from indulging into criminality rather than curing them after they have committed the offence. The parents and other elderly members of the family must provide adequate opportunities for their youngsters to develop their personality.This is possible through proper education, training and child care. Through the years, one of the most common cause of juvenile delinquency is the parental inadequacy, i.e. their role in upbringing of the children. The early family training can help in inculcation of the values and norms which makes the child aware of the values of the society and acquires characteristic of it. The children must have the knowledge about the actions which are permitted, prohibited and the reason behind that too. He/she must know how to get along with others, i.e. other children and adults. Depending upon the pattern of how the child is handled and who is the role model in the family the child starts to learn the basic responsibilities, i.e. inside and outside the house. 4. Biological Factors Biological factors such as, early physiological maturity or low intelligence, also account for delinquent behavior among juveniles. The biological causes are instrumental in imparting particular character traits in every child who grows up into an adolescent and finally into an adult. Many studies concerning the age of juveniles have shown that rates of offending begin to rise in preadolescence reaches the peak at late adolescence and it is carried on till adulthood. In adolescence, there are various changes in the body and of a child accompanied by different hormonal changes that have a physiological and psychological impact on a child. Biological causes that are responsible for delinquent behavior in a child include excessive strength in an adolescent and when the energy remains aimless and directionless can prove to be harmful to the person himself and the people around him. Various other biological factors are responsible for encouraging the children to commit crimes at tender ages such as ocular ailment which is a retinal disease and can lead to permanent loss of vision. It causes irritation and anxiety thus hampering the child from living a moral life, other problems like headache, auditory inability, speech problem, throat and nose problem, hypoglycemia caused by a low level of sugar in blood interrupts the normal functioning of the brain can also result into deviant behavior by children suffering from the same. 5. Migration Migration of deserted and destitute boys to slums brings them in contact with anti-social elements carrying on prostitution, smuggling of liquor or narcotic drugs and bootleggers. Thus, they lend into the world of delinquency without knowing what they are doing is prohibited by law. 6. Influence of Social Media Social-media today is having more negative than positive imprints on young minds. There is a growing concern that the social-media which undoubtedly inform, educate and entertain have become a source of contamination in child’s mind. It tends to provide sensational information about the crime, i.e. the types and techniques of the weapons. And this further leads to children either committing the delinquent act with vengeful mindset or they tend to educate their companions about the same. Motion movies show that the crimes are exciting and tend to show that there are ways in which the law can be eradicated. The prime culprits are those films and programs loaded with violence and vulgarity. This type of violence and vulgarity alleges to induce viewers for committing rapes, robbery, assault or murder. In India, a developing country where the literacy level is low these types of actions have more impact on the general attitude and behaviour. 7. Societal Causes Children’s interaction and communication with the societal environment in which they live in influences their behavior to a great extent and it may be responsible for instilling antisocial and delinquent behavior in them. Societal causes may include cultural conflicts which arise due to the mass exodus of people and results in violence between the immigrants and migrants. The peer group of which the child is a part has a great impact on the individual development of their personality. If a child accompanies bad people who are deviant he will be more he is more likely to indulge in criminal activities. The school atmosphere also plays a great impact on children as a child spends most of his time there. School is an institution designed to avoid delinquency in children but when the school fails to perform its duty then it turns into a major contributor to the development of delinquency in the society. JUVENILE JUSTICE IN INDIA India like any other country, also seeks to tackle the problem of juvenile delinquency on the basis of three fundamental assumptions :- i. young offenders should not be tried, they should rather be corrected; ii. they should not be punished but reformed; iii. exclusion of delinquents i.e. children in conflict with law from the ambit of Court and stress on their non-penal treatment through community based social control agencies such a Juvenile Justice Board, Observation Homes, Special Homes etc. History of Juvenile Justice Law in India Prior to the enactment of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000, the Juvenile Justice Act 1986 was the governing law on the subject. Before this Act was introduced , the Children Act,1960 was operative through out the country. The States were, however, authorised to enact their own law s' for the care and protection of the delinquent children and juveniles. Children Act, 1960 A perusal of the working of the Children A ct, 1960 (subsequently repealed by J.J. Act, 1986) would indicate that greater attention was required to be given to children who were found in situations of social maladjustment, delinquency or parental neglect. The justice system as available for adults was not considered suitable for being applied to juveniles. It was deemed necessary that a uniform juvenile justice system should be introduced through out India which would take into account all aspects of the social, cultural and economic changes in the country. There was also need for greater involvement of informal systems and community based welfare agencies in the care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of children and juveniles. The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 (repealed by J.J. Act, 2000). replaced the earlier Children Act, 1960. Aimed at giving effect to the guidelines contained in the Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice adopted by the U.N. countries in November 1985. The Act provided for the care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of neglected delinquent juveniles and for the adjudication of certain matters relating to, and disposition of delinquent juveniles. The main objectives of the Act were as follows :- 1. It laid down a uniform framework for juvenile justice in the country so as to ensure that no child under any circumstances is lodged in jail or police lock-up. 2. Led down machinery and infrastructure required for the care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of various categories of children coming within the purview of the juvenile justice system. 3. It set out norms and standards for the administration of justice in terms of investigation and prosecution, adjudication and disposition, care and protection etc. 4. It sought to develop appropriate linkage and coordination between the formal system of juvenile justice and voluntary agencies engaged in the welfare of neglected and socially maladjusted children. 5. It constituted certain special offences in relation to juveniles and provided punishment for them.
The Act operated for nearly 13 years, thereafter it was repealed
and replaced by the Juvenile (care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. The Act was repealed by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. Recognizes two categories of juveniles. i. Juvenile in Conflict with Law ii. Children in need of care and protection. A child who is alleged to have committed an offence and has not completed 18 years of age on the date of the commission of the offence. One of the special feature of the J.J. Act. 2015 is that a juvenile who has committed an offence is not addressed as 'juvenile delinquent‘, instead he is called a 'juvenile in conflict with law' .The object is to avoid stigma which the word 'delinquent' carries with it, in case of juvenile offenders . The trial of a 'juvenile in conflict with law' is held by the Juvenile Justice Board which has to consider the following issues in respect of the age of the juvenile before proceeding with the trial i. whether the person before it i.e. Juvenile Justice Board, is within the prescribed age of 18 years or not: and ii. for the purpose of determining the age, the relevant date is the date on which the offence is committed, and not the date on which the juvenile is brought before the Board for inquiry and proceedings. The Act mandates that no juvenile in conflict with law shall be subjected to any harm, abuse, neglect, maltreatment, corporal punishment or solitary confinement. Further the use of accusatory words such as arrest, remand, accused, trial, prosecution. conviction etc. in proceedings against juveniles is strictly prohibited. The Act requires that the juvenile's right to privacy and confidentiality should be protected by all means. Every child bas a right to be united with his family. Police can arrest a juvenile offender only where he alleged to have committed a serious offence punishable with imprisonment of more than seven years. Soon after the juvenile is apprehended, he should be placed under the care of Juvenile Welfare Officer posted in the Police Station, who shall produce him before the Juvenile Justice Board within 24 hours as per Section 10(1) of the Act. The Act prohibits lodging of juvenile offenders in police lock up or jail nor can he be hand-cuffed . A policeman in uniform is not allowed to handle the juvenile in conflict with law. The police is expected to gather all possible information about the socio-economic and educational background of the juvenile and circumstances leading to his law violations and record it in the case diary which is to be forwarded to the Juvenile Justice Board. Claim or Juvenility The claim for juvenility can be claimed before any court and at any stage of the proceedings and even after the disposal of the case. In the case of Kulai Ibrahim v. State, the court stated that in cases where documents mentioned are unavailable or found to be fabricated or manipulated it is necessary to obtain medical report for age determination of the accused. In the present case, the documents were available but they were proved to be fabricated and therefore it is necessary to obtain medical report. The Basis for deciding Juvenility The Supreme Court in Deoki Nandhan v. State of Uttar Pradesh, held that entry in the school register as to the date of birth of the student is admissible in evidence to show whether the accused is juvenile or not. Its acceptance shall however, depend on the probative value of such entry in school, whether it was proper or not. The Court further clarified that in case of difference between school certificate and medical certificate, the date mentioned in school certificate should be taken authoritative because the certificate of medical officer may be based on mere guess. The Madhya Pradesh High Court in its decision in Sunil & another v. State, clarified that the Court cannot leave the determination of age of juvenile entirely on the evidence of juvenile, but it is required to make an inquiry suo motu. In this case, lower court had rejected the bail application of the accused on the basis of ossification test and medical report which showed that, the appellant was not a juvenile. The High Court ruled that ossification test is not a conclusive proof in the matter and it is the primary duty of the Court to find out whether applicants are covered by the Juvenile Justice Act or not and the Juvenile may not be able to lead any evidence as to his exact age. "The Court must do participatory justice and exercise suo motu powers rather than be a silent spectator". Krishna Bhagwan v. State of Bihar – relevant age is the age on the day of the commission of the offence. Arnit das v. State of Bihar-overruled its earlier decision, held that relevant age is the age when he/she is brought before the competent authority and not on the commission of the offence. Conflicting views- felt a need to address this issue. Number of amendments of a very basic nature were introduced in the JJ Act 2000, by the amendment of August 22, 2006. In terms of this amendment even if a juvenile ceases to be so on or before the date of commencement of JJ Act 2000 (now Act of 20 15), the provisions of this Act shall apply as if the said provisions had been in force, for the purposes and all material times when alleged offence was committed. Eerati Laxman v. Andhra Pradesh, held that a person attains particular age at midnight of preceding anniversary of his birthday, that is while calculating a person's age, date of his birth must be counted as a whole day and he attains a specified age the day proceeding anniversary of his birthday. The reason being that a day commence at 12 O'clock midnight and continues until the same hour following midnight. In this case the accused was born on 10-5- 1978 and the was committed at 1 p m. on 9-5-96, he was therefore, held to be juvenile at the of offence. In Salil Bali v. Union of India & anr, it was discovered to amend the Juvenile Justice law present and to reduce the age from 18 years to 16 years to amend the juvenile law in such a way that the juveniles who have committed the heinous offences like rape, sexual assualt and murder should be tried as an adult.The Supreme Court rejected the plea and held that the Juvenile Act is based on sound principles and with compatibility to the Indian Constitution. Several International Instruments also recognize child rights like Beijing Rules, Riyadh Guidelines that allows separate criminal justice for the juveniles. In the case of Mukesh &ors v. State of Delhi ,popularly known as “Delhi Gang Rape case ” or “Nirbhaya case” the apex court refused to grant the harsher punishment on the account of the heinousness of the conduct and tried him as a minor. One of the rapists was a minor at the time which gave him a security from harsh punishment which led to questions, outrage amongst the public seeking justice which led the court to think about it all over again. Preliminary assessment into heinous offences by Board. Sec. 15. In case of a heinous offence alleged to have been committed by a child, who has completed or is above the age of sixteen years, the Board shall conduct a preliminary assessment with regard to his mental and physical capacity to commit such offence, ability to understand the consequences of the offence and the circumstances in which he allegedly committed the offence, and may pass an order in accordance in accordance with section 18. Provided that for such an assessment, the Board may take the assistance of experienced psychologists or psycho-social workers or other experts. For the purposes of this section, preliminary assessment is not a trial, but is to assess the capacity of such child to commit and understand the consequences of the alleged offence. Where the Board is satisfied on preliminary assessment that the matter should be disposed of by the Board, then the Board shall follow the procedure, as far as may be, for trial in summons case under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Children in need of Care & Protection A child who is found without any home or settled place of abode and without any means of subsistence or who is neglected by his parent or guardian or does not have parent or no one is willing to take care to take care of him/her or who is likely to be abused, tortured or exploited or who is found vulnerable and is likely to be induced in drug abuse or trafficking or who is a victim of armed conflict , civil commotion or natural calamity. Act empowers Government to constitute child welfare committees . Establishment of Children’s Home. Act also provides for establishment of Shelter Homes for destitute and shelter less children. Juvenile Justice Board Section 4 – of the JJ Act, 2015 - provides for constitution of the Juvenile Justice board. Objective – to keep juveniles away from accusatory procedure and to provide child friendly environment. The Board shall consist of a Principal Magistrate and two social workers, one of them should be women. Petty cases can be tried by summary trial and grave offences due process of enquiry is to be followed. SPECIAL PROCEDURE OF THE BOARD. Differs from ordinary trial. i. The proceedings cannot be initiated on a complain by the police of any citizen . ii. Hearing is informal and strictly confidential. iii. Juvenile offender while in detention should be kept in separate observation home. iv. The young offender may be reprimanded on security or bond for good behaviour. v. The trial of juvenile in conflict with law is usually conducted by lady Magistrate specially deputed for the purpose. vi. The procedure followed in the trial of juvenile in conflict with law being informal, he has no right to engage the services of a lawyer in the case. vii. No appeal lies against the order of acquittal made by the Juvenile Justice Board in respect of a juvenile alleged to have committed an offence. An appeal shall, however, lie against the order of the Board holding the juvenile guilty of an offence to the Sessions Court within a period of 30 days whose decision shall be final and there shall be no second appeal. Sanjay PrasadYadav v. State of Bihar, the Court was called upon to decide whether a juvenile (accused) who is found guilty of an offence under Section 302 and 34, IPC and ordered to be kept in Observation Home during inquiry under the Juvenile Justice Act, has to be shifted to jail in case he/she has crossed the prescribed age for being treated as juvenile. The Court held that such a juvenile must be continued to be kept in the Observation Home even if he has crossed the age- limit for juvenile during the pendency of inquiry against him and he need not be shifted to jail. Release of a Juvenile on Bail Sec 12 Juvenile in conflict with law maybe released on bail by the officer even by the officer-in-charge of the Police Station. Bail can be denied on following grounds i. Where there is reasonable apprehension that such release would bring the juvenile in association with other criminals, ii. Possibility being exposed to moral, physical and psychological exploitation, iii. Release would defend the ends of justice. Eg- for offences of rape, murder, kidnapping etc. In Jaispal Singh Tej Singh v. Ram Avtar Devilal, the High Court of Madhya Pradesh held Juvenile Justice Board shall take into consideration the i. circumstances of the case; ii. the nature of the offence; and iii. the character and antecedents of the accused or juvenile as the case may be.
The Juvenile Justice Board should warn him that he shall
have to face the sentence in case he repeats the offence or commits any other offence. Dispositional Order The dispositional order means a conviction order but in order to avoid the use of the word 'conviction' which is accusatory, the term dispositional order is used. The Juvenile Justice Board may pass any of the following dispositional order after due enquiry 1. Admonition; 2. Group counseling; 3. Community Services; 4. Fine if age of juvenile is above fourteen years; 5. Release on probation: 6. Detention in Special Home Maximum up to three years. Release of Juvenile on Probation The Juvenile Justice Board may order the release of juvenile in conflict law on probation for good conduct and place him under the care of his parents, guardian or any other proper person. Having regard to the circumstance of the case, the Board may also direct the juvenile to enter into a bond, with or sureties. But the period of such order of release on probation shall not three exceed years. Besides, the Board may order the placement of juvenile in a Special but the period of such placemen Board is also empowered to place the juvenile under the supervision of the Probation officer for a period not exceeding three years and the probation officer shall submit timely report about the reformation progress of the Juvenile. On the basis of the report, if the Board feels that the Juvenile is not keeping good behavior or difficult to keep him in control – Board can order that the Juvenile be send back to Special Home. HOMES The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 proides three types of Juvenile Homes where the juvenile in conflict with law may be kept. 1. Observation Home.- juvenile to be kept during trial. 2. Special Home.- after the completion of the trial. 3. Place of safety – Juveniles who are more than 16 years of age serving detention order.
In Sheela Barse v. Union of lndia, the Supreme Court
had observed that the statutory provisions provide that children should not be kept in jail. A large number of children and juveniles were still lodged in jails. Crimes against Juveniles and Penalties for them Sections 74, 75 and 76 respectively of JJ Act, 2015 – deals with cruelty to juvenile, employing them for begging or giving him intoxicating liquor or narcotic drug or psychotropic substance without prescription of a qualified medical practitioner etc. Besides, Section 79 prohibits utilization of juvenile or child for any hazardous employment or withholding of his earning and makes the contravention of this provision punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three years and fine. The Juvenile Justice Board shall take cognizance of violations under Section 99 either suo motu or on a complaint by someone whereas the cognizance of offences falling under Sections 74 to 79 of the J J . Act. 2015 shall be taken by the Board on a police report or a private complaint.