The Juvenile Justice Bill, 2015: All you need to know

Legislation

The Juvenile Justice Bill, 2015: All you need to know

Apoorva - December 18, 2015 Comments

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015 is currently pending in Rajya Sabha and was listed for passage in the current Winter session of Parliament. The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha after incorporating certain amendments, in May 2015. Here is all you need to know about the Bill and key issues associated with it. A PRS analysis of the statistics on incidence of crimes by children and conviction rates is available here.

Table 1: Juveniles between 16-18 years apprehended under IPC
Crime	2003	2013
Burglary	1,160	2,117
Rape	293	1,388
Kidnapping/abduction	156	933
Robbery	165	880
Murder	328	845
Other offences	11,839	19,641
Total	13,941	25,804
Note: Other offences include cheating, rioting, etc. Sources: Juveniles in conflict with law, Crime in India 2013, National Crime Records Bureau; PRS.

Who is a juvenile as recognised by law? In the Indian context, a juvenile or child is any person who is below the age of 18 years. However, the Indian Penal Code specifies that a child cannot be charged for any crime until he has attained seven years of age. Why is there a need for a new Bill when a juvenile justice law already exists? The government introduced the Juvenile Justice Bill in August 2014 in Lok Sabha and gave various reasons to justify the need for a new law. It said that the existing Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 was facing implementation issues and procedural delays with regard to adoption, etc. Additionally, the government cited National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data to say that there has been an increase in crimes committed by juveniles, especially by those in the 16-18 years age group. NCRB data shows that the percentage of juvenile crimes, when seen in proportion to total crimes, has increased from 1% in 2003 to 1.2% in 2013. During the same period, 16-18 year olds accused of crimes as a percentage of all juveniles accused of crimes increased from 54% to 66%. However, the type of crimes committed by 16-18 year olds can be seen in table 1. What is the new Bill doing? Currently, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 provides the framework to deal with children who are in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection. The Bill seeks to replace the existing 2000 Act and lays down the procedures to deal with both categories of children. It highlights the two main bodies that will deal with these children, to be set up in each district: Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) and Child Welfare Committees (CWCs). It provides details regarding adoption processes and penalties applicable under the law. The Bill provides for children between 16-18 years to be tried as adults for heinous crimes. The three types of offences defined by the Bill are: (i) a heinous offence is an offence that attracts a minimum penalty of seven years imprisonment under any existing law, (ii) a serious offence is one that gets imprisonment between three to seven years and, (iii) a petty offence is penalized with up to three years imprisonment. Currently, how is a juvenile in conflict with law treated? How is that set to change? Under the 2000 Act, any child in conflict with law, regardless of the type of offence committed, may spend a maximum of three years in institutional care (special home, etc.) The child cannot be given any penalty higher than three years, nor be tried as an adult and be sent to an adult jail. The proposed Bill treats all children under the age of 18 years in a similar way, except for one departure. It states that any 16-18 year old who commits a heinous offence may be tried as an adult. The JJB shall assess the child’s mental and physical capacity, ability to understand consequences of the offence, etc. On the basis of this assessment, a Children’s Court will determine whether the child is fit to be tried as an adult. What did the Standing Committee examining the Bill observe? One of the reasons cited for the introduction of the Bill is a spike in juvenile crime, as depicted by NCRB data. The Standing Committee on Human Resource Development examining the Bill stated that NCRB data was misleading as it was based on FIRs and not actual convictions. It also observed that the Bill violates some constitutional provisions and said that the approach towards juvenile offenders should be reformative and rehabilitative. The Bill as introduced posed certain constitutional violations to Article 14, 20(1) and 21. These have been addressed by deletion of the relevant clause, at the time of passing the Bill in Lok Sabha. What does the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) say? What are the obligations on the signatory nations? The UNCRC was ratified by India in 1992 and the 2000 Act was consequently brought in to adhere to the standards set by the Convention. The proposed Bill maintains this aim and seeks to improve implementation and procedural delays experienced by the 2000 Act. The UNCRC states that signatory countries should treat every child under the age of 18 years in the same manner and not try them as adults. While the 2000 Act complies with this requirement, the Bill does not. However, many other countries who have also ratified the Convention try juveniles as adults, in case of certain crimes. These countries include the UK, France, Germany, etc. The United States is not a signatory to the UNCRC and also treats juveniles as adults in case of certain crimes. Under the Bill, what happens to a child who is found to be orphaned, abandoned or surrendered? The Bill addresses children in need of care and protection. When a child is found to be orphaned, abandoned or surrendered he is brought before a Child Welfare Committee within 24 hours. A social investigation report is conducted for the child, and the Committee decides to either send the child to a children’s home or any other facility it deems fit, or to declare the child to be free for adoption or foster care. The Bill outlines the eligibility criteria for prospective parents. It also details procedures for adoption, and introduces a provision for inter-country adoption, so that prospective parents living outside the country can adopt a child in India. Currently, the Guidelines Governing Adoption, 2015 under the 2000 Act, regulates adoptions. Model Foster Care Guidelines have also recently been released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. What are the penalties for committing offences against children? Various penalties for committing offences against children are laid out in the Bill. These include penalties for giving a child an intoxicating substance, selling or buying the child, cruelty against a child, etc. Issue to consider: The penalty for giving a child an intoxicating or narcotic substance is an imprisonment of seven years and a fine of up to one lakh rupees. Comparatively, buying or selling a child will attract a penalty including imprisonment of five years and a fine of one lakh rupees. It remains to be seen if the Bill will be taken up for consideration in this session, and if its passage will address the issues surrounding children in conflict with the law.

Purpose	2016	(as a %)
Forced labour	10,509	45.5
Prostitution	4,980	21.5
Other forms of sexual exploitation	2,590	11.5
Domestic servitude	412	1.8
Forced marriage	349	1.5
Petty crimes	212	0.9
Child pornography	162	0.7
Begging	71	0.3
Drug peddling	8	0
Removal of organs	2	0
Other reasons	3,824	16.5
Total persons	23,117	100

Policy priority stated in President’s Addresses 2014-2018	Current Status
Economy and Finance
Despite a global economic downturn, the Indian economy has remained on a high growth trajectory.	Growth Rate: The GDP is estimated to grow at 7.2% in 2018-19.[i] In the last five years, GDP growth rate stayed within 7% and 8% per year, with a dip to 6.7% in 2017-18, the year of demonetisation.[ii]^,[iii] Inflation: A target of 4% for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation was notified by the Ministry of Finance for the period 2016-2021.[iv] CPI stayed within this band for most of the period between 2014 and 2018. Foreign Exchange Reserves stood at USD 397 billion on January 2019, as compared to USD 313 billion in May, 2014.^[v]^,^[vi]
Measures to deal with corruption, black money and counterfeit currency will be introduced	Demonetisation: On November 8, 2016, the Government announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.^[vii] During the period from November 2016 to October 2017, undisclosed income of over Rs 24,800 crore was detected.[viii] The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 was passed in July, 2018. The Bill seeks to confiscate properties of economic offenders who have left the country to avoid facing criminal prosecution.[ix] The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 amends the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Under the 1988 Act, taking of a bribe by a public official was an offence. The Bill also makes the giving of a bribe an offence.[x]
To promote the concept of cooperative federalism through One Nation-One Tax and One Nation-One Market, the government introduced the Goods and Services Tax	Goods and Services Tax was introduced across the country from July 1, 2017.^[xi]
Agriculture
Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for a majority of people. For holistic development of the agricultural sector, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was launched in 2016	Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY): PMFBY was launched with the aim of providing insurance coverage and financial support to farmers in the event of crop failure. The number of farmers enrolled under the scheme declined from 5.7 crore in 2016-17 to 5.2 crore in 2017-18.^[xii]
Employment and Entrepreneurship
The government has continuously worked for reforms of labour laws. Minimum wages have increased by more than 40%	Over the last three years, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has introduced three draft Codes to simplify labour laws. These are: (i) the draft Labour Code on Industrial Relations, (ii) the draft Code on Social Security and (iii) the draft Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions.⁶⁰Additionally, in 2017, the Code on Wages Bill, 2017 was introduced in the Lok Sabha. In 2017, the central government increased minimum wages by 40% through a gazette notification. Minimum wages (per day) for non-agricultural workers increased from Rs 250 to Rs 350 for unskilled workers and Rs 523 for skilled workers.^[xiii]^,[xiv]^,[xv]
Infrastructure
Cities are the engines of economic growth. The Smart City programme was initiated to build modern amenities and infrastructure.	Smart Cities and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) have an outlay of Rs 48,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore for the period 2015-2020, respectively.^[xvi] As of January 19, 2018, 100 smart cities have been selected. As of 2018, the total proposed investment in these cities is Rs 2,05,018 crore.^[xvii]^,[xviii]
All rural habitations will be connected with all-weather roads. So far, 73,000 kilometres of roads have been laid in rural areas.	The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) aims to connect all eligible unconnected habitations in rural areas with all-weather roads by March 2019.^[xix]^,[xx]As of January 29, 2019, of the target of 1.52 lakh habitations to be covered since the inception of the scheme, 1.46 lakh (96%) habitations have been connected.^[xxi]
Housing is a fundamental right. All households shall have a dwelling unit under the Mission Housing for All by 2022.	Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) was launched in 2015. The Yojana has two components: rural and urban. Under PMAY-Urban, 5,33,000 have been completed in 2018-19. Under PMAY-Rural, 14,21,850 have been built in 2018-19. [xxii]^,^[xxiii]
Health and Sanitation
Poor sanitation weakens the economic wherewithal of a poor household. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims to ensure health and sanitation.	Swachh Bharat Mission: Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) was launched on October 2, 2014 to achieve a clean and open defecation free India. It has two components: SBM Urban and SBM Rural. ^[xxiv]^,[xxv] Under SBM Urban, as of January 29, 2019, 24,130 individual household toilets have been constructed.^[xxvi] Under SBM Gramin, as of January 30, 2019, 919 lakh individual household toilets have been constructed (98.81% of target). ^[xxvii]^,^[xxviii]
The government is committed to providing affordable and accessible healthcare to all its citizens, particularly the vulnerable groups.	Ayushmaan Bharat: In the General Budget 2018-19, the Government announced two major initiatives in health sector as a part of the Ayushman Bharat program. These were: Health and Wellness Centres and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).[xxix] Ayushmaan Bharat aims to create 1,50,000 health and wellness centres providing comprehensive primary healthcare. Rs 1200 crore has been allocated for this purpose.[xxx] PMJAY will cover over ten crore poor and vulnerable families. [xxxi] It will provide coverage of up to five lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. For the year 2018-19, Rs 3,125 crore has been allocated for this scheme.^[xxxii]

The Juvenile Justice Bill, 2015: All you need to know

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