Improving the effective functioning of Juvenile Courts

LIKE many countries in the world, the juvenile justice administration started functioning in Bangladesh with the enactment of the Children Act, 1974 and the Children Rules, 1976. The Children Act was enacted in 1974 and was enforced in 1976 only for Dhaka District and for other districts, it was enforced in 1980. At the same time, according to section 3 of the Children Act, 1974 the first juvenile court was established at Tongi correctional institution in 1978 for male child. But there were no juvenile courts (both male and female child) for other districts in Bangladesh. In fact, there was hardly any focus on the juvenile justice until 1990s in the media, administration and judiciary.
 In 1990, after signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989 juvenile justice issue was focused by the GOs and NGOs as an international issue. Thereafter, two juvenile courts established at Pulerhat, Jessore in 1995 for male child and the other at Konabari, Gazipur in 2003 for female child. It can be said that until 1995, there was only one juvenile court for male children. Similarly, until 2002, there was no such court for girl child in Bangladesh. Accordingly, there are only three designated juvenile courts for six divisions in the country yet. Except for the three juvenile courts, there is no separate juvenile court which ensures that juveniles are separated and treated differently from adults at all stages of the criminal proceedings. It demonstrates that existing legislation and practices do not fully comply with international standards and that there remains a significant gap between the law and its implementation to protect the best interest of the children.
Some limitations of juvenile courts eventually delay the legal process which is mentioned below:
Inadequate Sitting:
Session of juvenile courts is scheduled twice in a week from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. as per the Children Rules, 1976. Even this poor schedule is not regularly maintained. it is not appropriate for juvenile's welfare considering the high number of cases. Moreover, there are no full time judges in the juvenile courts. The judge executes the trial of children as an additional responsibility. So, they cannot give proper attention to the cases. Because the judicial magistrate is busy in multifarious functions generally s/he does not preside over the court regularly. As a result, the children are deprived of required rights and facilities and due to lack of regular disposal of cases, the number of under trial offenders are increasing day by day. Also, there is no follow-up mechanism after the release of the juveniles from the correctional institutions.

Limited Jurisdiction:
The juvenile courts cannot take into consideration the cases of children who are convicted of serious offences under section 5(3) of the Children Act. For example, the case of robbery, theft and murder etc. are under the jurisdiction of judges of the session courts and it is not under the jurisdiction of judges of the juvenile courts in correctional institutions. Judges of the juvenile courts usually conduct petty offences and guardian cases. They also conduct cases of those delinquents whose files are sent from the ordinary court to juvenile court.

Geographical Limitation:
Geographical jurisdictions of juvenile courts are very limited within selected districts. According to the Gazette Notification dated 23rd June 1999, the juvenile court of Tongi covers Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions while the juvenile court of Jessore covers Khulna, Rajshahi and Barisal divisions. The Konabari juvenile court for female children covers six divisions (now seven divisions) of Bangladesh. It is very difficult and expensive for the guardians and juveniles from remote areas to come and stay. For this reason, witnesses are not interested to come to the juvenile courts.  

Insufficient Probation Officers:  
In juvenile courts, the judge makes decisions based on the report submitted by the probation officer. Immediately after arrest of a child, it is the duty of the police officer, effecting the arrest, to inform the probation officer. The benefit of probation is generally given to an offender by the court after social investigation to judge the suitability of the offender to be released on probation. So, s/he may, after being released, have the probation benefit in the real sense. Unfortunately, there are no adequate permanent probation officers in the country, rather social welfare officers are overburdened by the duties of probation officers. So, juvenile justice process is delayed.
However, due to insufficient number of juvenile courts (with limited jurisdiction) throughout the country, children are tried in ordinary courts and get punishments like adults. Although as per section 4 of the Children Act, 1974, ordinary courts are also responsible to protect juveniles. As of today no ordinary court has been set-up exclusively as juvenile court and establishment of separate juvenile court in each division has not been focused properly in the independent judiciary in Bangladesh. The ordinary court is wide and elaborate that cannot afford close observation towards juvenile delinquents regarding their trial, correction and rehabilitation is not smooth and complete.
In the context, it can be said that the juvenile courts do not function at the optimum level in Bangladesh. Children are not tried in separate juvenile courts; confidentiality is not maintained and the social enquiry reports of probation officers are seldom considered fairly. Consequently juveniles are deprived of their right to return to normal life. Recently the Government has finalised of the Children Act 2013 which is a positive step and will gradually pave the way for the best interest of the children in Bangladesh. However, to make juvenile justice more effective and least time consuming more juvenile courts should be established in each division. It should be clearly ensured that any offence committed by a juvenile defined under any law whether special or general shall be tried by juvenile courts. Therefore, juveniles need separate court for special trial where they can enjoy their basic human rights. We hope this new law would be implemented as soon as possible.

THE WRITER IS A RESEARCH FELLOW OF THE CENTRE FOR CIVILISATIONAL DIALOGUE, UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA,
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA.