Balancing Juvenile Crime and Justice as a Response to Growing Youth Crimes

Abstract

A child is a person who is going to carry on what you have started.... He will assume control of your cities, States, and nations. He is going to move in and take over your churches, schools, universities, and corporations ... the fate of humanity is in his hands. - Abraham Lincoln Over past twenty years, the society have undergone a tremendous change in terms of ideologies and moral perspective. What was considered as immoral or unethical a decade ago is now considered as completely normal. People in order to achieve the goal of a better life are moving forward with faster than ever to open the doors to a better and developed society and in the process, they haven’t paid much attention to self-introspection. This has impacted the lives of children more than we can think of. Children are also exposed to the competitive environment where there is a continuous pressure to do better than others however this deprive them of the basic common sense, sympathy and moral values which were to be taught to them since a younger age. Children are growing ahead of their age and have knowledge of the things which even adults lack however this knowledge comes at an expense. Children today are involved in crimes that can’t be justified by highlighting their dark past. Nirbhaya Case (Delhi Gang Rape case) was an eye opener which shed light on the kind of crimes a 17-year-old can commit. All the legislation whether it be in India or any other country, the main aim has always been to make laws to protect the child till date however now it’s time to make laws to protect the society from the heinous crimes committed by children under the pretence of immaturity. There has always been a difference opinion when it comes to question of what and how much punishment is suitable for the minors. The conflicts always arise as to at what age and crime a child should be tried as an adult in the court and what is the basis to decide it. This article is an attempt to understand the present Indian Legislations with reference to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015 drafted for the children who act in conflict with law and whether under given circumstances these legislations are enough for creating a balance between the crime and justice in juvenile cases. Many countries including USA and UK have amended their laws considering the rising crime rate of the crime committed by minors. This article is an attempt to compare the laws of different nations along with the international laws laid down for the same. The main objective behind the research is to understand that where the legislations are still lacking with respect to the recent cases in and try to look for a middle way out for the same along with measures that can be adopted to decrease these crimes.