The draft rules take a more rehabilitative approach as opposed to a punitive one. Giving the child in conflict with the law the benefit of doubt, many features have been factored in that allow for intense counselling and second chances.
Union minister of women and child development (WCD) Maneka Gandhi released a draft of model rules that will repeal the existing ones for effective implementation of the recently amended Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2016. The rules released on the ministry's official website has invited comments and suggestions within 15 days for feedback, after which the model rules will be finalised.
Keeping a child's development and progress in focus, the model rules that run 167-pages long are comprehensive putting special emphasis on children who need care and protection and feature strengthened provisions for children in conflict with law.
The draft rules take a more rehabilitative approach as opposed to a punitive one. Giving the child in conflict with the law the benefit of doubt, many features have been factored in that allow for intense counselling and second chances.
Several key features have been introduced that were otherwise missing or not taken into account so far. These include special provisions for children who commit heinous offences in the age group of 16-18 years; inclusion of new offences committed against children such as giving intoxicating liquor or narcotic drug or tobacco products to children, sale and procurement of children for any purpose, corporal punishment in child care institutions, etc. among others.
Much criticism followed the amendment of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2016 which allowed a minor between 16-18 years of age to be tried as an adult. In the new draft, before the court allows the child to be tried as an adult, a preliminary assessment authored by experts will be taken into account. To avoid age disputes, testing centres at hospitals will be set-up to determine the age of every accused.
Another key feature is the ease and simplification of an adoption process. Not only has the centre prescribed mandatory registration for all Child Care Institutions with punishment in case of non-compliance; it has also given statutory status to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to enable it to perform its function more effectively.
Legal aid expert Anant Asthana who specialises in cases related to juveniles is hopeful about the new rules. "Overall, I believe the rules are comprehensive and positive," said Asthana. "Rule 19, a welcome addition, states that a juvenile's record be destroyed on the expiry of the period of appeal and once the case has been properly disposed off," he said. Asthana went on to add that, "children in conflict will be given a second chance now that their past cannot come back and haunt them."
When the new rules come to pass, it will affect all cases registered since January under the amended JJ act. However, only those cases where procedural step have not been taken will be liable to the new draft model rules.
"Substantive laws that affect the right of an individual are not retrospective, however, procedural laws can be," explained Asthana. For example, the new draft rules would be applicable and would impact the case of the juvenile involved in the Mercedes hit and run that claimed the life of 32-year-old Siddhartha Sharma in April, if a preliminary assessment has not been done.
"It will be in retrospect for all cases since January, but we want to emphasise that it is child-oriented so children will not have to go to jail,'' said Gandhi.
"The centre has given us only 15 days to respond with feedback. I believe that time is too little if the ministry is serious about their intent to change the law," said Enakshi Ganguly Thukral, co-founder of HAQ, Centre for child's rights.
The JJ Act came into force in January, following a huge uproar about the increasing number of crimes committed by children under the age of 18. Keeping in mind expert opinions, the new draft rules have accordingly been modified taking a multi-disciplinary approach.
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