Juvenile Justice Amendment Bill, 2021

Context:

In the Rajya Sabha, the important Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021 (without any discussions due to disruptions).

Relevance:

GS-II: Social Justice and Governance (Issues Related to Children, Governance and Government Policies, Issues Arising Out of Design & Implementation of Policies)

Dimensions of the Article:

1. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
2. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015

• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 replaced the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 to comprehensively address children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection.
• The Act changes the nomenclature from ‘juvenile’ to ‘child’ or ‘child in conflict with law’.
• Also, it removes the negative connotation associated with the word “juvenile”.
• It also includes several new and clear definitions such as orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children; and petty, serious and heinous offences committed by children.
• The 2015 law also included special provisions to tackle child offenders committing heinous offences in the age group of 16-18 years.
• It mandates setting up Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees in every district. Both must have at least one-woman member each.
• A separate new chapter on Adoption to streamline adoption procedures for an orphan, abandoned and surrendered children,
• Also, the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) was granted the status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more effectively.
• All Child Care Institutions, whether run by State Government or by voluntary or non-governmental organisations are to be mandatorily registered under the Act within 6 months from the date of commencement of the Act.

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021

• Now, “Serious offences” will also include offences for which maximum punishment is imprisonment of more than seven years, and minimum punishment is not prescribed or is of less than seven years. [Serious offences are those for which the punishment under the Indian Penal Code or any other law for the time being is imprisonment between three and seven years.]
• The Juvenile Justice Board inquiries about a child who is accused of a serious offence.
• The Bill amends the present act to provide that an offence which is punishable with imprisonment between three to seven years to be non-cognizable (non-cognizable where arrest is allowed without warrant).
• Presently, the adoption order issued by the court establishes that the child belongs to the adoptive parents. The Bill provides that instead of the court, the District Magistrate (including Additional District Magistrate) will issue such adoption orders.
• The Bill provides that any person aggrieved by an adoption order passed by the District Magistrate may file an appeal before the Divisional Commissioner, within 30 days from the date of passage of such order.

Changes to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC)

• The amendment provides Additional Functions of the District Magistrate as the supervising the District Child Protection Unit, and also mandates the District Magistrate to conduct a quarterly review of the functioning of the Child Welfare Committee.
• The amendments include authorizing District Magistrate including Additional District Magistrate to issue adoption orders under Section 61 of the JJ Act, in order to ensure speedy disposal of cases and enhance accountability.It provides that a person will not eligible to be a member of the CWC if he/she:
  1. has any record of violation of human rights or child rights,
  2. has been convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude,
  3. has been removed or dismissed from service of the central government, or any state government, or a government undertaking,
  4. is part of the management of a child care institution in a district.

-Source: The Hindu