Despite lapsed of six years of its promulgation juvenile justice Act of 2018 in Pakistan has not been fully implemented in its letters and spirit across Pakistan. For example, section 10 stipulated the juvenile justice committees across Pakistan to be notified for the resolution of cases of children said to have breached minor or major penal law of Pakistan [1] regardless of this expressed stipulation not a single juvenile justice committee across Pakistan particularly Punjab and Sindh have to date been made functional for the resolution of cases through diversion i.e., no punitive sanctions only restorative measures.
However, each juvenile justice committee supposed to have four members i.e., Judicial Magistrate with the powers of section 30, District Public Prosecutor, Probation Officer, or a Social Welfare Officer not below the 17-grade scale, and an Advocate having seven years of standing at the bar.
However, section 206 of the juvenile justice and delinquency prevention Act 1974 in the U.S. constituted a high-level council for resolving issues pertaining to children conflict with the law and preventing child delinquency. The council comprises of twenty members, ten lawyers with extensive experience in juvenile justice irrespective of political affiliations, three members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives after consultation with the minority leader of the House of Representatives, three members appointed by the majority leader of the Senate after consultation with the minority leader of the House of Representatives, three members appointed by the President, and one member appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs of Senate.
We at LAW believe the number of members in the juvenile justice committee (s) to be increased for effective and expeditious outcome of cases of children. Prima facie, it appears that insertion of section 10 of the juvenile justice Act 2018 is a mere formality missing the intention to resolve cases of children in conflict with the law through restorative measures i.e., diversion from punitive sanctions. It is also quite strange that there is not a single stipulation in the Act 2018 that demands submission of quarterly, or yearly report to the authorities such as, Sessions Judge, etc. So, Pakistan’s juvenile act -having only 25 sections- does not meet the exponential changes and needs of the time as there is not even a single doctor, physiologist, or psychologist as a member in the juvenile justice committee for report preparation regarding physical and psychological aspects of juveniles.
At glance, we recommend the juvenile justice committees across Pakistan to be made functional and the legislature should amend the whole act by increasing the number of members of the Juvenile Justice Committee (s).
[1] Minor and Major violations of penal law carry punishment up to seven years of simple imprisonment.
*The writer is an Advocate in Lahore, Pakistan. He is also the Director at Legal Awareness Watch (LAW).
January 8, 2024
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