SHOULD JUVENILES BE TREATED AS ADULTS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM?
Giving a 10-year mandatory minimum for a second offense fist fight is not going to reduce the chance that someone will be stabbed 16 times when you are not funding any of the programs that are desperately needed to actually reduce juvenile crime. Bobby Scott
Juvenile stage is a transition from childhood to adulthood, with sky is the limit expectation and hope, which is a stage of tremendous physiological, hormonal, emotional as well as structural change in the human brain and therefore it is a time of great vulnerability.
Recent spine chilling incident of rape and murder in Delhi followed by rape of a journalist in Mumbai, along with many such incidents in the media has started a debate in every corner of the country from drawing room to parliament, has the time come to prosecute juveniles as adults in case of heinous crime? Looking at the degree of cruelty and violence of the incidents and nature of crime, is it become necessary to prosecute the juvenile as adult?
National Criminal Record Bureau (NCRB) in its report on Crime of India 2011 and 2012 has given some eye opening statistics on the ever increasing juvenile crime. Juvenile crime has increased by 64% in the age group of 16-18. Similarly rape, theft and abduction of women have risen by 188%, 200% and 600% respectively. So this data is crystal clear to show that time has come for a stringent punishment as that of adults in case of heinous crime. However, both the side of the coin must be studied and analysed before jumping to the final conclusion.
Coupled with this, according to Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, current provisions to deal with juvenile crime, is based on counselling and send to remand home. But the fact is that we have only 700 plus remand homes to accommodate 35,000 juveniles whereas in India little less than 24 lakh cases related to juvenile delinquency are going on India. Moreover, Rehabilitation home lacks skilled, trained and committed staff. Even it is in media that, juveniles learn modus operandi of crime from others in the home. So the expectation for transforming a juveniles brain in the remand home seems a big question. So the experienced and trained persons from institution like Tata Institute of Social Science can address this issue which should be done to achieve the objective of remand home.
So looking at the status of remand home and police report which shows that many of the remand home juveniles are repeated offenders, the imperative need of amending the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 cant be ruled out. But can we amend the act, as India being the signatory of International law of UN convention on Right to child, 1989? We believe that under 18 are physically and mentally immature. So we can focus the nature of act for the juvenile crime in US and UK who are also signatory of the UN convention.
In US, for the age group of 13-15 and more, violent and serious crime, juveniles are transferred from youth court to adult court without considering them with compassion. As a result there is a reduction in number of juvenile crimes since 1990s in US. Similar fashion followed in UK with extended sentence for sexual assault and other cases is trailed in crown court and not in youth court. In short, UN convention is not restricting anybody to prohibit prosecuting a child as an adult in case of extreme form of crime. In other words it is giving enough scope to prosecute them as adults. So time has come to amend the law in the line of US and UK which has seen dwindling of the heinous crime.
Since law is dynamic concept, with change of time and circumstances and there should be progressive legislation which can check the deterrent of social ethics and behaviour of juvenile. So time has come for a get tough approach for the heinous crime. However, the other side of the coin need to be studied to understand upto what extent of crime can be treated to fit as adults. There are certain misconceptions prevailing in the society which have to be understood in this regard.
First misconception, juvenile crime is extremely high in India. In fact 1-2% of juvenile crimes come under Indian Penal code. Among them, heinous crime is a fraction. Juvenile Crime many a time exaggerated by media, that paints a wrong picture in the society. Experts are of the view that, major reasons behind this are poor financial status, illiteracy and improper guidance. So it is time to give a strike at the root by ensuring education coupled with employment for the juveniles.
Second misconception, there should not be any difference in trial of a juvenile and adult. Various reports suggest that likelihood of adolescents committing crime is higher than adults due the emotional and physiological transition. So they need utmost care and attention to complete their rough passage to adulthood. So they deserve a second chance in case of minor crimes. Hence all cases pertaining to juvenile may not be treated as one fit for all approach.
Third misconception, juvenile committing crime cant be reverting back. An organisation named ECHO, has trained juvenile criminals to assist traffic police so gave them an opportunity to become law enforcer from law breaker. So the fact that cant be ruled out that, if wrong circumstances made them criminal, proper opportunity and support also can drag them back to the main stream. It is a matter of chance that education and proper guidance make other civilised otherwise they would have the same fate as that of juvenile crimes. We need to understand that, If We can change the gene of any living being by genetic engineering, we also can change the behaviour and attitude of a juvenile. Cant We? It is only it is a matter of commitment and determination.
Hence from the above discussion, one can conclude that all form and kind of juvenile crime should not be treated as adult crime. There should be a clear cut distinction between natures of juvenile crime that can be treated as adult, by amending the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000. The punishment of the convict should be on the case to case basis. However, heinous crimes need to be dealt with stringent measures. The degree of punishment should be in proportion to the nature of crime.
There is no doubt that the juvenile crime is increasing day by day which must be checked with stringent law. However, the softness, tender and immaturity of the juvenile are worth of understanding and giving value. Imagine a beautiful flower was crushed and chopped when it was a tender bud. Do these kinds of buds only meant for ruthless plucking?
by AJIT KUMAR NAYAK,
