A groundbreaking study conducted by the India Justice Report (IJR) has unveiled significant challenges facing India's Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs). As of October 31, 2023, over 55% of cases remain unresolved, underscoring persistent issues in staffing, data management, and infrastructure.
The IJR study reveals that although 92% of the 765 districts in India have established JJBs, the pendency rate is troublingly high. For instance, Odisha reports an 83% pendency rate, while Karnataka shows a 35% rate, with the national average at 55%. Additionally, 24% of JJBs are not fully constituted, and 30% lack a necessary legal services clinic, both crucial for providing justice focused on children.
The report, titled "Justice and Children in Conflict with the Law: A Study of Capacity at the Frontlines," assesses the performance of institutions under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
Each JJB manages an average of 154 pending cases annually, highlighting a stark imbalance between workload and capacity. This leads to delays in the justice process.
Significant vacancies exist in JJB roles, particularly for social workers and support staff. Furthermore, there is a lack of child-friendly infrastructure and insufficient funds for training, which hampers the quality and timeliness of hearings.
Unlike the National Judicial Data Grid for courts, there is no centralized repository for JJB data. The RTI responses showed that 11% of queries were outright rejected, 24% went unanswered, and only 36% received comprehensive replies.
In 31,365 cases, 40,036 juveniles were apprehended, with over 75% aged between 16-18 years. This indicates a growing trend of older adolescents entering the justice system.
Despite the JJ Act 2015 being in place for nearly a decade, the decentralised juvenile justice structure remains frail.
The four key agencies — Police, Department of Women & Child Development, State Child Protection Society (SCPS), and State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) — often work in isolation. More than 500 RTI queries across 28 States and 2 UTs, covering 530 districts, reveal fragmented responses, indicative of poor coordination and monitoring.
With 30% of JJBs lacking legal aid clinics, many children confront the system without proper defense, which contradicts the child-centric ethos of the JJ Act.
Not only JJBs but also child care institutions face considerable staffing shortages, affecting efforts toward rehabilitation and reintegration.
To fortify the juvenile justice ecosystem, experts suggest several measures:
Implementing these reforms is crucial for protecting children in conflict with the law and ensuring a fair, timely, and child-friendly justice process.
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