EDITORIAL: There are no two opinions on that young offenders should not be held in regular prisons because it messes them up. Besides, the idea is not to punish but reform them. It’s been a while, i.e., 2000 when the first step in that directions was taken through the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance.
Later in May of 2018, the Juvenile Justice System Act (JJSA) was passed making several important improvements in it, including establishment of juvenile rehabilitation centres where delinquents are to be confined with access to education and skill training till the completion of sentence period or until turning 18 years of age.
It also gives them the right to legal assistance at state expense, of which a juvenile is to be informed within 24 hours of taking him/her into custody. Furthermore, during investigations underage accused are to be kept in ‘observation homes’ rather than police stations.
Sadly, more than six years on, the law remains to be to put into practice, prompting the Lahore High Court to observe during the proceedings of a recent case that the JJSA, like many other laws, remained merely a paper law, as it had failed to protect the welfare and facilitate social reintegration of young offenders.
According to a report appearing in this paper, a woman had petitioned the court for the recovery of her 11-year-old grandson from alleged ‘illegal custody’ of Gujrat police. The detainee was produced before the court along with his two co-accused siblings, a boy and a girl — all in a pathetic condition.
While handing them to the Child Protection Bureau the court ruled that henceforth the custody of juveniles shall be regulated by the Bureau which will undertake all necessary measures to ensure that these vulnerable children are safeguarded from future involvement in any unwanted activities. Apparently, the petitioner in this instance had the resources to pay legal fees to plead her case.
Almost all such delinquents being poor, their families can ill afford to do that. Which is why the JJSA made it a responsibility of the government to provide legal assistance as a right, and inform the accused of that right. Nothing has changed. As usual, they are left at the mercy of police personnel who employ coercive tactics to make them admit crimes they may not have committed.
The court now has directed the government to establish juvenile rehabilitation centres in every district of the province, and the Prosecutor General of Punjab as well as the police chief to submit their respective compliance reports within two months.
Adherence to all provisions of the present law has been emphasised so as to ensure the criminal justice system is fair, humane, and geared towards rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. This approach is not only good for the affected individuals but also greater good of society.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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