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| How
and when? | Who is a juvenile? Critique of Juvenile Justice Act 2000 | Strengths | Loopholes |
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Critique of Juvenile Justice Act 2000 The fundamental premise underlying the JJ Act is that children who commit offences and children who need care and protection would fall within the ambit of the juvenile justice system. The Act builds in certain avenues for release of the child either to parents, guardians, fit persons or adoptive parents or to people who would provide foster care. However, it is important to remember that the logic of |
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juvenile justice system is to provide what the preamble of the Act calls
'proper' care, protection and treatment by catering to their development
needs' within an institutional setting. These institutions, designated as observation homes, children's homes or special homes, share one feature in common - they are all closed institutions, which completely deprive the child of his or her liberty. In its conceptualization, the Act purports to focus not on punishment, but on how best one can reform the erring individual. Thus, the deprivation of liberty is not conceptualized as punishment, but as a mode through which the juvenile is reintegrated into society. What is to be noted is that this program of 'reintegration' is to be carried out with respect to the child in conflict with the law for a period of not less than 2 years in the cases of children who are over 17 and below 18 and for other juveniles till she/he ceases to be a juvenile. For children in need of care and protection, the child would continue in the children's home if the other measures conceptualized under the Act, like foster care, adoption, sponsorship and after care are not suitable. Thus the philosophy seems to be that by detaining children till they reach the age of 18 and by subjecting them to a monotonous daily routine and an enforced separation from all forms of living outside daily routine, one would produce individuals who can then be reintegrated back into society. However the daily reality of life in most "homes" really reflects an adherence to the classical model of punishment. |
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