JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN PAKISTAN

Juvenile delinquency is referred to the behavior in violation of the criminal code committed by a youth
not attained the age of maturity. It is essential to understand the term delinquent and delinquent act,
that delinquent is the official term or label assigned a person below age who has deviated from the
community norms and specific act which was in violation of the criminal code is called as delinquent act.
A juvenile who breaks the school window or fights with other youth person is not automatically labeled
as delinquent until series of the acts likewise are acted upon.

Juvenile delinquency is primarily of two types: criminal offences and status offences. Acts like aggravated
assault, rape, homicide, arson, larceny and drug related are illegal whether committed by minor or an
adult and would be considered as crimes. These acts are the major concern of the criminal justice system
and prompt actions are taken against to prevent the same. While status offences would not call crime if
committed by an adult for example, running away from home, stay late night out of home, smoking
cigarettes and leaving the office early but the same acts if are committed by a juvenile would be
considered as delinquent acts in nature.

In Pakistan and elsewhere juvenile delinquency is an antisocial behavior of the children and adolescents.
Children and adolescents involved in antisocial behavior violate the basic norms, rights and rules of the
society. The growth of the industrialization, increasing urbanization and prevailing conditions in the labor
class triggered problem of delinquency among children and adolescents, and criminal tendencies in
Pakistan; it is emerged in the society in the conflict of the discrimination between the social classes. Such
as varying state of pace of development in urban and rural society; unemployment rates; and literacy
rates. Social reformists in these conditions demanded the changing role of the family, social institutions
and governmental attention, and also called for the immediate actions to deal with this distinctive social
problem of the society posed by the children.

AGE OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN PAKISTAN

The offenders’ responsibility age is described as 7 to 12 years in Pakistan. The age of responsibility
derived from a range of criterion such as levels of maturity understanding and initiatives. There is a
debate which suggests that the criminal responsibility be raised to 14 years. They argued that some
other influencing factors could be used while setting the age of responsibility of juvenile offenders.
These factors included as state of intellectual openness, mental approach for deciding about a right or
wrong levels of emotional intend dealing with problem situation historical and cultural background in
which the convict is grown.

REASONS OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

Crime rate is increasing in Pakistan partly because of the socio-economic conditions and deteriorating of
social institutions and other by the ineffective criminal justice. Pakistan is a heterogeneous developing
society undergoing a metamorphosis, where the state has still a weak writ of the governance required to
ensure rule of law and democratic values. The criminal justice system is contaminated by corruption,
political intervention, and a low level of capacity building. The policies of the justice system are based on
a product of a whimsical approach to leadership rather than research.

The study conducted by Khalid and Cheema (2004) reported dispute between child’s parents, and
electronic media significantly influence the juvenile crime. The found through carrying out research in
the Faisalabad jail the 70 percent juveniles caught on the charges of murder, they had difficult domestic
life where they parents had regular conflict of social and economic nature.

Additionally, an estimated 20 million out-of-school children as well as the few thousands whose parents
and communities prevent polio vaccination marks the much-needed resumption of regular education for
tens of millions of kids already enrolled, but forced to stay home for the past 11 months because of
Covid-19. The recent legislation in the center and in the provinces that prohibits corporal punishment,
forced religious conversion and premature marriages are positive indicators, however recent statistics
indicates that Pakistan has 1,300 juvenile offenders in jails and about ninety percent of them are simply
awaiting trial.

PROBLEMS IN JUVENILE TREATMENT

Human Rights Watch organizations such as the U.N. Commission for Human Rights reports that the
juveniles in prisoners in Pakistan are not treated in accordance with the international treaties and
declarations. The juveniles are not separated and kept in prison cells with adults, they are brought into
the torture, sex offence and inhuman treatment while they are in the custody or while kept in the
prisons. Ideally the juveniles are brought to prison with the intention that they will be reformed through
training and rehabilitation processes so that once they come out of the prison, they enjoy a successful
life and become a part of community.

RISK FACTORS OF JUVENILES IN JAIL AWAITING TRIALS

1. Daily physical contact of under-trial juveniles with convicted ones, which facilitates the transfer
of non-physical yet damaging modes of attitudes and behavior.
2. Emotional agony of uncertainty of outcome and the unpredictable date for conclusion of trial
3. However considerate and kind some individual jail staff members may be, the overall deficit in
the capacity of jail staff to attend to the special needs of children and respect the nuances of
their individual personalities.
4. Vulnerability to addictive habits through access to drugs and narcotics smuggled into jails by
corrupt staff for adult prisoners next door.
5. Exposure to possible sexual child abuse or simply ugly violence.
6. Loss of priceless time of normal schooling and education.
7. Lack of regular, specialist psychological counselling.
8. The physical hardship and ill-health suffered because of poor infrastructure and hygiene e.g. in
toilets.
9. Malnutrition, making the child more prone to stunting, a permanently afflictive condition
estimated to affect millions of children living outside jails as well.
10. The fears about the social stigma that awaits them post-release.
11. Despite facilities and schedules that allow private time, the absence of the joys and thrills of
play, of games and sports partaken in and freely celebrated.
12. Perhaps the most potentially lethal aspect: vulnerability to indoctrination and brain-washing into
violent extremism, with religion often used to promote religiosity and intolerance, a condition
that could then crystallize and worsen soon after release.
MEASURES TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN

Over the past five decades, a number of national laws have been drafted to protect the rights of
juveniles, which include The Sindh Children Act 1955, Provisions for Juvenile Offenders in the Pakistan
Penal Code (1860), and The Constitution of Pakistan 1973. The Sindh Children Act (SCA) was enacted in
July 1955 by the Sindh Assembly. The SCA is also known as the juvenile justice and child protection law;
it deals with the procedure of handling children and the child protection perspective provides rules and
guidelines to save children from exploitation, abuse, victimization and also sets punishments for those
who abuse and exploit children.

Whereas the Pakistan Penal Code has some provisions on juvenile offending, it basically lays down
important provisions relating to the offender’s age for criminal liability. In 1989, the United Nations
adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It is the most broadly approved human
rights treaty ever. As of writing this article all countries of the world except the United States and
Somalia are signatories to it. The UNCRC provides guidelines for the administration of the juvenile justice
system of its signatories in a manner that upholds the rights and dignity of children in conflict with the
law. Moreover, it requests States Parties to consider specific formative and endurance requirements in all
strategies influencing juveniles. It is stated in its article 40 that, “A child in conflict with the law has the
right to receive treatment which promotes the child's sense of dignity and worth, takes the child's age
into account and aims at his or her reintegration into society. The child is entitled to basic guarantees as
well as legal or other assistance for his or her defense. Judicial proceedings and institutional placements
shall be avoided wherever possible”. Pakistan also became its signatory in 1990 but the implementation
was not effective till 2000.

Pakistan promulgated the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) in 2000, aiming to provide protection
of the rights of children involved in criminal litigation; and their subsequent rehabilitation. In Pakistan,
since 2000, the national framework for dealing with juvenile offenders is primarily governed by the
Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000 (JJSO). There was a critical need for the review, revision and
strengthening of the JJSO – and also for several amendments to the existing corpus of diverse and
conflicting child protection laws in Pakistan. Successive governments however, neglected the plight of
juvenile prisoners, thereby hampering the implementation of the JJSO. Juvenile offenders still continue
to be treated as hardened criminals, thereby deflecting attention and focus away from rehabilitation to
punishment. The problems in implementation of the law were further compounded by the existence of
conflicting laws, some of which could not be overridden by the JJSO, as its Article 14 states that the JJSO
is “in addition to and not in derogation of any other law for the time being in practice”. It is also seen
that persistent inconsistency in the laws regarding the treatment of juvenile offenders leads to a
disregard of the child’s best interests. For example, the JJSO (2000) prohibited the corporal punishment
of children in custody. However, in Punjab, the Borstal Act(1926), permits corporal punishment for male
juvenile offenders in Borstal Institutions. Similarly, the JJSO prohibited the death penalty –both in its
sentencing and imposition – for juvenile offenders. However, since the lifting of the informal moratorium
on the death penalty in 2014, six juvenile offenders have been executed, despite credible evidence
demonstrating that they were minors at the time of their alleged crime.

2018 saw a positive development in Pakistani legislation, namely, the JJSA 2018, which seeks to improve
the state of juvenile offenders with a focus on their rehabilitation and better access to justice
mechanisms. But in spite of these efforts, it was evident that the Juvenile Justice System continued to
face challenges, primarily due to weak implementation mechanisms, inadequate infrastructure, chronic
shortages of financial and human resources, and, above all, the absence of political will and commitment
required to focus on juvenile justice issues.

The Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018 (JJSA)

In 2018, Parliament enacted the Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018 (JJSA), which repealed the JJSO, 2000.
It is an improvement in the law, aiming to empower the State to make special provisions for the legal
protection of child offenders, and also seeking to ensure that the new law overrides previous contrary or
conflicting provisions, as stated in Articles 23 and 25 of the JJSA, which the JJSO 2000 did not do. The
most noteworthy sections of the JJSA are: determination of the Child’s age; setting a higher minimum
age of criminal responsibility (although it is still not in accord with the UN CRC); disposal of cases through
diversion; formation of Juvenile Justice Committees (JJCs); and setting up Juvenile Rehabilitation Centers
(JRCs). The JJSA 2018 provides for improved and strengthened criminal justice for children, as well as
provisions for the subsequent social integration of juvenile offenders.

The JJSA states that every juvenile offender or survivor of a crime shall have the right of legal assistance
at the expense of the State. He/she must be informed his/her rights and must be provided legal
assistance within 24 hours. Soon after being apprehended and taken into custody by the police, a
juvenile offender will be kept only temporarily for investigations, and only after obtaining remand from
the Juvenile Court. All juvenile offenders will be kept separately from police stations or lockups or
accused adults in custody. The JJSA makes the following special provisions for girls accused of offences:
that in no circumstances will a girl child be apprehended or investigated by a male police officer, or be
released on probation under the supervision of a male police officer. She shall only be kept in a Juvenile
Rehabilitation Centre (JRC), which is established or certified exclusively for female inmates, such as
women’s crisis centres (shelters).

Determination of Age

The JJSA 2018 has included clauses which render it mandatory for the police Investigating Officer (IO) to
make inquiries to determine the age of any such person who physically appears to be a juvenile – based
on his/her birth certificate, educational certificates or any other pertinent documentation. In the
absence of any documentation, a medical examination will be conducted to determine the age of the
accused juvenile offender. This clause is an improvement over the JJSO 2000. This clause makes it
mandatory for the State to determine the age of the accused child prior to starting any proceedings.

Increase in Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility (MACR)

The JJSA 2018 defines the child according to the definition in the CRC: “a child is a person who has not
attained the age of 18 years”. The JJSA has increased the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR)
to 10 years, by amending Section 82 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 (PPC). Similarly, in Section 83, the
figure 7 was substituted with 10 and the figure 12 was substituted with 14.

While this is a commendable development, yet it must be noted that Pakistan is not yet in adherence to
the UNCRC provision of setting the “absolute minimum” age at 12 for criminal responsibility. But with
the JJSA, Pakistan is at least moving from one of the lowest MACRs in the world to a better status. It can
and it must do better in future. This amendment will also serve to reduce the overall number of juvenile
offenders in prison, which will also decrease the chronic problem of prison overcrowding.
Disposal of Cases through Diversion

The concept of Diversion was introduced in the JJSA 2018 to dispose of cases without resorting to formal
judicial proceedings for minor offences. Educating juvenile offenders through community service, with
an emphasis on education and training, has also been added, to prevent juvenile offenders from being
sent to prison where they might be in the company of adult convicts and hardened criminals. The JJSA
also binds the police/LEAs, investigating agencies and the courts to decide juvenile cases within six
months. The different modes of diversion include, but are not limited to, restitution, reparation,
reprimand, fine payment and demand for apology. All offences, either minor or major, shall be
compoundable for the purpose of diversion. For major offences, diversion can only be exercised if the
age of the juvenile offender is below 16 years. These measures are expected to;

 reduce the number of incarcerated juvenile offenders and offer them an alternative to a criminal
record;
 they will also protect such children from child abuse, sexual violence, drugs and substance
abuse, which they are greatly susceptible to, while in prison.

Juvenile Justice Committees (JJCs)

The JJSA provides that Juvenile Justice Committees (JJCs) are to be formed within three months of the
enactment of the law and will be established for each Sessions Court at the district level. The JJCs will
consist of four members, including serving Judicial Magistrate, a District Public Prosecutor, a member of
the local lawyers’ Bar Association (having at least seven years’ standing), and a serving Probation Officer
or Social Welfare Officer. The Committee will have the power to dispose of cases through diversion, upon
referral from the police, the Prosecution or the Juvenile Court, within a period of one month from the
date of referral. The JJC will also inspect the offenders’ residential locations and the Juvenile
Rehabilitation Centers, and will give directions to the officers in charge. Monitoring of the welfare,
rehabilitation and social re-integration of juvenile offenders is also included in the JJC’s functions.

Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre (JRC)

The Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre (JRC) is a new, special prison established exclusively for housing
juvenile offenders. They shall be confined to the JRC premises until the completion of their period of
imprisonment or until they turn 18 years of age. While in the JRC, they shall receive an education as well
as vocational and technical skills training for their development.

Challenges to Implement JJSA 2018

The main challenge is the pending enactment of the new Rules of business for carrying out the
provisions of the JJS Act of 2018, e.g. allocation of resources, training police investigators, training the
judiciary handling juvenile cases, establishment of juvenile courts, establishment of Juvenile Justice
Committees and Juvenile Rehabilitation Centers. Since the previously enacted Rules stand repealed after
the promulgation of the new law (JJSA 2018), hence, the federal and provincial governments are
required to make new Rules of business.

Further challenges include inadequate infrastructure, financial resources, and lack of trained personnel.
The new law itself contains contradictions: Section 6 of the JJSA 2018 deals with the ‘Release of Juvenile
on Bail’, but according to Section 6(4), a juvenile offender may not be released on bail if he/she is more
than 16 years of age and is arrested for a heinous offence. It creates unnecessary confusion with regard
to the fixation of age and its further classification, especially if read together with Section 15 of the Act,
which stipulates the Power of a Juvenile Court to issue orders for a juvenile offender’s release, but is
silent concerning juvenile offenders aged over 16 years, who are arrested for a heinous offence. In
addition: Section 4 of the JJS Act 2018 deals with the establishment of a Juvenile Court, while Section 12
provides for a separate trial of a juvenile from an adult, but with exceptions. The stated aim of the
additional and strengthened clauses in the JJSA 2018 is to promote access to justice and the best
interests of the child; but there remains the question of its effective implementation, given the history of
implementation of its predecessor, the JJSO 2000; and also the absence of political commitment to
addressing the above cited contradictions and lacunae.