Part-1
Juvenile Justice ( Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000
The Objective:
An Act to provide for the care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of neglected or delinquent children for the adjudication of certain matters relating, and disposition of delinquent children.
As the name suggests, the JJ(C&P;) Act, 2000, has been enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to the Juveniles in conflict with the law and children in need of care and protection.
The JJA specified the children who were within its purview, the age ascertained is any human being below the age of 18.
Since the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, after ratification, is a part of our national legislation.
Before going into further details of punishment for Juveniles ,let us see what form of punishment is accepted and executed in India.
In India, punishment is of Reformative type, the convict is given a chance to come back in the main stream of life, except in the rarest of the rare cases, but on the other hand it displays the color of a deterrent type also. The purpose for punishment to be of deterrent kind is to send a message to the persons who dare to deviate from the law and society, that any form of deviance shall not be accepted, and there lies punishment for every offence.
Need for the Punishment:-
Ø To establish faith and belief in the unbiased eyes of the Justice
Ø To inculcate the feeling of brethren
Ø To provide a sense of security and peace of mind to the law abiding citizens.
The Constitution on Punishment:-
Ø Chapter III of Constitution, Article 14 states that there should be equal treatment under equal circumstances, which implies that convicts of similar offences should be treated similarly.
Ø Chapter III of Constitution, Article 21 states that there shall be a procedure established by law to meet the ends of justice by a method based on the principles of humanity and dignity.
Now coming back to the topic that whether Juveniles should be treated as adults for violent crimes?
The Juvenile Justice Act was initially introduced in the year 1986 and later on again formed and amended in the year 2000.
The JJA,2000,( henceforth the Act) provides for a maximum of 3 years rehabilitation (punishment in this case) in observation home which is solely based on reformative theories, however the crime heinous or violent may be in nature, there is no classification adopted in it.
Basically ,the lower mark for violent offences are Murder and Rape, and the crimes which are more heinous and barbaric in nature.
As there is no classification for juveniles committing violent crimes, that this shortcoming of the Act has been used in derogation with the justice delivered to the victims, as the offender is put to a rehabilitation for maximum of 3 years.