Historical background of

Juvenile Justice
Juvenile Justice assignment

Sanskriti Saini
17/ILB/039
X semester
Introduction

Children are the pillars of every progressive society and are considered to be the future builders
of the modern world, henceforth are the supreme assets of any country and therefore every effort
should be made to overcome the problem of juvenile delinquency generated with the advent of
modernization and urbanization.

Today, crimes by children or in other words crimes by juveniles is not only unbridled but is
exhibiting a very brutal color of mind set of these young offenders. The problem of juvenile
delinquency is undoubtedly tragic to human interest as it is not only confined to our country but
also cuts across national boundaries. Juvenile delinquency laws are inadequate to the extent of
determining the age of juvenile when the offence is committed.

The concept of juvenile delinquency to widen its limits has drawn adverse criticism on the
ground that it is neither necessary nor desirable to use police and courts in private matters which
can be well tackled by family themselves.

All nations whether it be developed or under-developed desires their youth to refrain from any
kind of criminal or anti-social or terrorist activities and therefore, these nations are constantly
defining and re-defining their local laws which can ameliorate the future of juveniles. Juveniles
are future of tomorrow and the need of the hour is to save our future generations from going
astray.

With change in time and nations on the road to development, there is a drastic change in the
offences committed by juveniles, what to say, from theft to dacoity, murders, rapes, hacking,
cyber-crimes, terrorism and many other un-imaginable activities. The purpose behind any
juvenile law is not to punish a juvenile but is to safeguard him against the evils of crime society.
Another aspect of Juvenile law is to reform and rehabilitate juveniles so as to evolve themselves
as crime-free human beings. Also, through punitive measures, to act as a deterrent to habitual
young offenders.
Historical background of Juvenile Justice

 The Apprentice Act, 1850: The first legislation concerning juveniles was the Apprentice
Act, 1850 which provided that children in the age group of 10- 18 years convicted by courts
to be provided with some vocational training which might help in their rehabilitation and
reformation.

 The Reformatory Schools Act, 1897 : It was followed by Reformatory Schools Act, 1897.
The Indian Jail Committee (1919-1920) brought forth the vital need for square trial and
treatment of young offenders. Its recommendations prompted the enactment of the Children
Act in Madras in 1920. This was followed by Bengal and Bombay Acts in 1922 and 1924
respectively. The three pioneer statutes (i.e. Acts concerning Madras, Bengal and Bombay)
were extensively amended between 1948 and 1959.

 The Children Act, 1960: Thereafter, the Central enactment, The Children Act, 1960 was
passed to cater to the needs of the Union Territories. To remove some inherent lacunas in the
above mentioned Act, The Children (Amendment) Act was passed in 1978.
But the need of a uniform legislation regarding juvenile justice for the whole country had
been expressed in forums, including Parliament but it could not be enacted on the ground that
the subject matter of such a legislation fell in the State List of the Indian Constitution.
To bring the operations of the juvenile justice system in the country in conformity with the
United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing
Rules, 1985), Parliament seems to have exercised its power under Article 253 of the
Constitution read with Entry 14 of the Union List to make laws for the whole of India to
fulfill International obligations.
 The Juvenile Justice Bill, 1986: On 22nd August, 1986, the Juvenile Justice Bill, 1986 was
introduced in the Lok Sabha. Its objects and scope were straight and clear that a review of the
working of the existing Children Acts would indicate that much greater attention is required
to be given to children who are found in situations of social ill-treatment, destitution or
neglect.
The justice system available for adults was not considered appropriate to be applied to
juveniles. It was felt that a uniform juvenile justice system should be adopted which could
provide for adequate provisions in the changing social, cultural and economic scenario of the
country.
The provisions contained in the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 replaced the corresponding laws
on the subject such as Children Act, 1960 and other State enactments on the subject.

 Juvenile Justice Act,1986: As per The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986, the age for a female to be
treated as juvenile was 18 years and that of a male was 16 years. Also, apart from the need
for a uniform Act regarding children, the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 was a result of Sheela
Barse v. Union of India, 1986 (2) Scale 1.
Though, The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 came into existence but still there existed loopholes
and lacunas and as expected the Act of 1986 could not pass the test of time and had to make
way for a new Act that is The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
Under this Act the age was made uniform for both Male and Female. This Act provided for a
special approach towards the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency and provided
a framework for the protection, treatment and rehabilitation of children in the purview of the
juvenile justice system. This law was brought in compliance to the 1989 United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), repealing the earlier Juvenile Justice Act of
1986 after India signed and ratified the UNCRC in 1992.

Since, there were few grey areas where this new Act was silent and not expressive in dealing
with certain issues most importantly determining the age of a juvenile offender, the landmark
judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India by a Constitutional Bench in the case titled
as Partap Singh v. State of Jharkhand, 2005(3) SCC 551. was pronounced addressing this
issue in detail and held that "reckoning date for the determination of the age of the juvenile is
 the date of an offence and not the date when he is produced before the authority or in the
Court". Thus, in light of the above decision by the Hon'ble Apex Court, the law pertaining
this issue was amended.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2006 came into
force on 22nd August 2006. This amendment provided a hope to those juveniles who were more
than 16 years of age when the alleged crime had taken place and the old Act i.e. The Juvenile
Justice Act, 1986 was in operation. When, The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)
Act, 2000 came, the age was increased to 18 years from 16 years pending trial. Therefore, this
anomaly was removed by way of insertion of a special explanation in Section 20 of the Juvenile
Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2006.

However, this provision of law happened to be misused by juveniles in their favor and the
country witnessed nationwide heinous crimes committed by juveniles. The offenders in a way
understood the shield provided by the amended Act.

Until the Nirbhaya incident (Delhi Gang Rape Case), we could see a reformative approach in
treating juvenile offenders. With an increasing number of minors committing heinous crimes, the
Juvenile Justice Laws needed to be updated. Thus, a retributive approach was adopted in treating
the same.