Parliament Passes Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill 2021.
Amendment Proposed:
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.
The District Magistrates have been further empowered to ensure its smooth implementation, as well as garner synergized efforts in favour of children in distress conditions.
As per the amended provisions of the Act, any Child Care Institution shall be registered after considering the recommendations of the District Magistrate.
The DM shall independently evaluate the functioning of District Child Protection Units, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, Specialized Juvenile Police Units, Child Care Institutions, etc.
The eligibility parameters for appointment of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) members have been redefined. Disqualification criteria for the same have also been introduced.
It has been decided that offences where the maximum sentence is more than 7 years imprisonment but no minimum sentence has been prescribed or minimum sentence of less than 7 years is provided, shall be treated as serious offences within this Act.
About Juvenile Justice act:
change in nomenclature from ‘juvenile’ to ‘child’ or ‘child in conflict with law’, across the Act to remove the negative connotation associated with the word “juvenile”;
inclusion of several new definitions such as orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children;
petty, serious and heinous offences committed by children;
clarity in powers, function and responsibilities of Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) and Child Welfare Committee (CWC);
clear timelines for inquiry by Juvenile Justice Board (JJB);
special provisions for heinous offences committed by children above the age of sixteen year;
separate new chapter on Adoption to streamline adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children;
inclusion of new offences committed against children;
mandatory registration of Child Care Institutions.
Broad Provisions:
The Juvenile Justice Board is given the option to transfer cases of heinous offences by such children to a Children’s Court (Court of Session) after conducting preliminary assessment.
To streamline adoption procedures for orphan, abandoned and surrendered children, the existing Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is given the status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more effectively.
Processes have been streamlined with timelines for both in-country and inter-country adoption including declaring a child legally free for adoption.
Under the institutional care, children are provided with various services including education, health, nutrition, de-addiction, treatment of diseases, vocational training, skill development, life skill education, counselling, etc to help them assume a constructive role in the society.
Several new offences committed against children are included in the Act. These include: sale and procurement of children for any purpose including illegal adoption, corporal punishment in child care institutions, use of child by militant groups, offences against disabled children and, kidnapping and abduction of children.
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