NCPCR Guidelines for Juvenile Crimes

NCPCR Guidelines for Juvenile Crimes

Why in news?

National Commission for Protection of Children issued guidelines for trying a juvenile as an adult in case of heinous crimes.

How does a juvenile get tried as an adult?

• 3 categories of offences – The Juvenile Justice Act 2015 (JJ Act, 2015) has categorized the offences committed by children into three categories which are Petty offences, Serious offences and Heinous offences.
• Section 15 of the JJ Act (2015) – In case of a heinous offence against a child, who is or above the age of 16, the juvenile justice board shall conduct a preliminary
• Preliminary assessment – To test the mental and physical capacity of juvenile and his/her ability to conduct a crime should be asses
• Sole objective preliminary assessment is to determine whether a child within the age group of 16-18 years should be tried as an adult in case of heinous offences.
• Section 18 (3) of JJ act (2015) – After the preliminary assessment if there is a need for trying children as adult then the case is transferred to children’s court.
• Regular jail at 21 – If the juvenile is found guilty and sentenced he/she will only be transferred to a regular jail to be tried as an adult at the age of 21.

Role of juvenile justice Board (JJB)

• Preliminary assessment – Juvenile justice Board (JJB) shall be responsible for the preliminary assessment and provide the child, the child’s family, and their counsel a copy of the order.
• Degree in child psychology or child psychiatry – The board need to have a member who is a practicing professional with a degree in child psychology or child psychiatry.
• In case of absence of such a member the Board shall take the assistance of psychologists or experts who have the experience of working with children in difficult times.
• Legal aid counsel – Should be provided to child through District Legal Services Authority. Legal aid counsel should be present during the preliminary assessment.
• Training – Under the section 15 of the JJ act 2015 training is mandate for the experts who assist the JJB.
• Probation officer or Child Welfare Officer – After the interaction with the child or child’s family, a Social Investigation Report (SIR) should be prepared.

Statistics

• According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), since it started recording these crimes in 2017, they had risen by over 700 percent by 2019.
• The NCRB in 2017 recorded 278 cases of crimes committed by CCI in-charges across India involving 328 child victims. These cases rose to 1,968 by 2019, involving as many as 2,699 child victims.

Way Forward

• Since the guidelines have been made to remove any ambiguity and to clarify the steps involving preliminary assessment the errors of trying innocent juvenile as an adult will be minimized.
• The absorption of these principles in the system needs to be monitored by NCPCR.
• The principles in the guidelines needs to be given due importance by JJB and children’s court.