Introduction

Juvenile refers to any young individual who still exhibits the traits and nature of a child. Delinquency is defined as refusing to follow social norms, neglecting your responsibility, committing a crime, or engaging in any other wrongdoing. To handle young offenders fairly and enable them to live peaceful, moral, and democratic lives, almost all civilized nations have enacted juvenile justice laws. The juvenile court, a court that is child-friendly in character, is where juvenile justice is delivered. This System’s primary objective is to take corrective rather than punishing measures. The juvenile court takes action for foster care and lenient treatment through specific institutions if a youngster commits a crime. so that young offenders can discover a way to live a good life.

Keywords: Crime committed by minors, Juvenile Delinquency, Punishment for minors.

Background/ History of Juvenile Laws in India

Apprentices Act of 1850– It was the first form of legislation for handling children who had broken the law that was passed during the colonial era. According to this law, small violations committed by minors are not punishable by imprisonment but rather by treating them as apprentices—that is, as someone who is enrolled in a training program in the workplace or under another organization.

The Constitution of India– Article 15(3), Article 39 clauses (e) and (f), Article 45, and Article 47 all impose the necessary duty of ensuring children’s needs and preserving their fundamental human rights. In November 1989, the General Assembly of the United Nations approved the Convention on the Rights of the Child and established the standards that must be followed by all member States to ensure the child’s wellbeing. It also placed emphasis on the social integration of young offenders.

Indian Penal Code of 1860– Children are viewed as innocent, and any wrongdoing committed by them cannot be classified as a crime or an offence because they lack mens rea, or “guilty mind.” This clause follows the “doli incapax” concept, which states that a child is not regarded capable of developing the purpose necessary to commit a crime or a tort. Sections 82 and 83 of the IPC, which are a part of Chapter IV, General Exceptions, provide for this.

Juvenile Justice Act, 1986– An Act to provide for the care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of neglected or delinquent juveniles and for the adjudication of certain matters relating to, and disposition of, delinquent juveniles. India was among the most important countries to improve its framework in light of the principles outlined in the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the organisation of Juvenile Justice. Undoubtedly, additional goals included establishing a uniform legal framework for juvenile justice, contributing to a particular approach for tackling and controlling adolescent wrongdoing, outlining the structure and framework for juvenile justice operations, developing standards and guidelines for the organisation of juvenile justice, creating proper connections and coordination between the formal framework and deliberate offices, and establishing one of a kind of juvenile justice systems.

Juvenile Justice (Care And Protection Of Children) Act, 2000– This act repealed the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986. The act of 1986 required that the prior framework worked around the execution of the then accessible Children’s Acts be rebuilt. The Government of India re-enacted the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of the Children) Act, 2000 to support and organise the approach towards adolescent equity with regards to the significant provisions of the Indian Constitution and international commitments in such a manner. This act is also repealed now and The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is currently applicable.

Who are Juvenile Delinquents?

A minor child who engages in criminal activity is said to be a juvenile delinquent. These children are between the ages of 10 and 17. [1]The term “juvenile delinquency” is also used to describe youngsters who display a pattern of mischievousness or disobedience that makes them appear to be beyond the reach of their parents’ authority and makes them the target of judicial action. “Juvenile offending” is another term for juvenile delinquency.

The two types of Juvenile Delinquents are-

Rehashed wrongdoers: They are often referred to as “life-course constant wrongdoers.” These juvenile offenders start off at fault or indicating other solitary behaviour throughout pre-adulthood. Repeat offenders continue to engage in illegal activities or coercive behaviours even after they reach maturity.
Age-specific guilty parties: Age-Related Offenders claim that juvenile delinquent behaviour begins in youth. In any case, unlike the repeat offenders, the age-specific guilty party’s practises come to an end before the child becomes an adult.

Reasons for Juvenile Delinquency

There are a number of factors that lead young people to commit crimes. It is challenging to identify a single cause because these aspects are frequently complicated and interdependent. However, there are a number of reasons that contribute to youth crime in India which are listed below-

Poverty- Children from low-income homes may experience a variety of difficulties, such as limited access to resources like school and healthcare. Additionally, they could experience violence, abuse, and neglect, which could push them to turn to criminal activity in order to meet their fundamental requirements. Lack of options for young people due to poverty can further increase their sense of helplessness and desperation.
Parents- Parents play an indispensable role in a growing child’s life. If a child has abusive parents or the child is from a single parent home then statistics suggest that they have the potential to develop a criminal behaviour because of lack of parental guidance and they are more vulnerable to peer pressure and getting involved in illegal activities.
Bad influence- A criminal peer group may expose young people to drugs, alcohol, and other illegal activities, which may have a negative impact on their behaviour and cause them to commit crimes. Young people may find it difficult to resist the impulse to commit crimes due to peer pressure. Media also plays some role in bad influence. There can be some information in the media that children consume which unknowingly influences them to commit crimes or they use it to justify their crimes.

Ineffective juvenile justice system can further aggravate the behaviour of young delinquents because of lack of rehabilitation of these children and can lead them to have no choice but to stay a criminal in their adult ages in order to survive. Indian Juvenile Justice System is good but it needs improvement in proper implementation.

Case Laws on Juvenile Delinquency

1. Gopi Nath Ghosh v. State of West Bengal, 1984 AIR 237 [2]

In this case, it was said by the Supreme Court that a juvenile delinquent ordinarily has to be released on bail irrespective of the nature of the offence alleged to have been committed unless it is shown that there appear reasonable grounds for believing that the release is likely to bring him under the influence of any criminal or expose him to moral danger or defeat the ends of justice. A Practice Direction was also issued by the court saying that “Whenever a case is brought before the Magistrate and the accused appears to be aged 21 years or below, before proceeding with the trial or under taking an inquiry, an inquiry must be made about the age of the accused on the date of occurrence. This sought to be made so where special Acts dealing with juvenile delinquents are in force. If necessary, the Magistrate may refer the accused to the medical-Board or the Civil Surgeon, as the case may be, for obtaining credit worthy evidence about age.”

2. Sheela Barse v. Union of India, 1986 AIR 1773 [3]

The petitioner filed this petition in accordance with Article 32 of the Constitution in order to seek the release of minors who were detained in jails across the nation’s States, the production of comprehensive data on children detained in jails, and the existence of juvenile courts, homes, and schools in the nation. The Supreme Court issued certain guidelines for the lower courts to make the regulation of juvenile justice better, the whole guidelines can be seen in the judgement text but to list a few, the court directed the State Legal Aid and Advice Board in each State or any other Legal Aid organisation existing in the State concerned, to send two lawyers to each jail within the State once a week for the purpose of providing legal assistance to children below the age of 16 years who are confined in the jails and States to properly enforce the ‘Children’s Act’ enacted by them.

3. Hari Ram v. State of Rajasthan, 2009 SCC 13 211 [4]

In this case, The appellant argued that the High Court was in violation of the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000, which was intended to rehabilitate juvenile offenders in order to bring them back into mainstream society and give them a chance to rehabilitate themselves as useful citizens of the future, by acting in a highly technical manner by deciding that the appellant was not a juvenile. In fact, the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 expanded the 1986 Act’s definition of “juvenile” to include anyone under the age of 18. The apex court accepted this contention and accordingly allowed the appeal and set aside the order of the High Court and the matter was remitted to the Juvenile Justice Board, Ajmer, for disposal in accordance with law.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015

Considering the development of laws pertaining to juvenile justice and minors in conflict with the law, academic and political discourse has been dominated by a visible set of concepts that are focused on reformation and rehabilitation. The Juvenile Justice Act of 1986 and the revisions that followed it might be seen as a turning point in how lawmakers think about these issues. The Juvenile Justice Act was put into effect in order to carry out the goals of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which India accepted on December 11, 1992. This statute specifies the procedural rights that apply to children who are in legal trouble. The current law addresses the problems of the existing law, such as delays in adoption processes, the high number of pending cases, the accountability of institutions, and so on.

How to tackle the problem (suggestions)

We have seen that the Juvenile Justice system has been updated time to time according to the needs of the present and also improving the previous legislations. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has been recently set up [5] whose primary focus is to help children who are victims of any type of sexual assault but it also summarily covers problems like juvenile justice and other rights of children. However, some steps that can further improve this system are briefly given below-

Change in education- children are susceptible to various vulnerabilities during adolescence. Every school should be instructed to make a committee where they can guide those specific students who have committed any small crime or who shows behaviour that can be associated with these small crimes, in order to curb it in initial stages.
Sports and other functional programs- children generally get involved in the crime because of two reasons- bad influence or poverty. The problem of bad influence can be tackled by involving them into sports, because it helps them divert their time and energy into physical activities. The problem of poverty can be solved by programs where the children are taught a skill which they can use part time to earn money while they are being given free education with food and shelter for some time after which their tendency to return to crime will fall substantially.
Courses and seminars- periodical courses or seminars can be organised to make the children and their parents aware of the resources that are available to them to tackle delinquency and how to restore themselves into the society.

Conclusion

The social welfare and child rights are the cornerstones around which the juvenile justice system is built. its main priorities are reformation and rehabilitation. It can be said that the juvenile justice system works on the Reformative theory of punishment. It is done to give the child chances to express his personality. In the end, the objective is to go forward and establish an extremely fair society. The nation’s future resources are its children. They need to develop their personality from negative to positive. We must close the enormous gap between theory and practise, still by taking into account previous experience. We must create an effective juvenile justice administration and infrastructure during this process. We must make the dreams included in the new legislation a reality. While there are laws that are already there in the system, it needs further improvement in implementation so to achieve the desired result.

References

Gopi Nath Ghosh v. State of West Bengal 1984 AIR 237, available at https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1517629/, last seen on 19/04/2023
Juvenile Justice System In India, Legal Service India, available at https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-6794-juvenile-justice-system-in-india.html, last seen on 20/04/2023
Introduction and Overview of the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection Act, 2015, ipleaders, available at https://blog.ipleaders.in/introduction-overview-juvenile-justice-care-protection-act-2015/, last seen on 20/04/2023
Sheela Barse v. Union of India, 1986 AIR 1773, available at https://indiankanoon.org/doc/595461/, last seen on 20/04/2023
Hari Ram v. State of Rajasthan, 2009 SCC 13 211, available at https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1589001/, last seen on 21/04/2023
Legal Dictionary, available at https://legaldictionary.net/juvenile-delinquency/, last seen on 21/04/2023
About Commission, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, available at https://ncpcr.gov.in/about-commission, last seen on 22/04/2023