Timeline of Juvenile Justice Act (J.J. Act).
- 1986. The Government of India enacted the Juvenile Justice Act.
- 1989. the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC).
- 1992. India ratified the UNCRC.
- 2000. UNCRC outlines the right of the child to reintegration into society without judicial proceedings where avoidable. Hence the Government, to fulfil the standards of the convention felt a need to re-write the law. Hence in the old law was replaced by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
JJ Act.
In this act a child or juvenile is defined as a person who has not
completed his/her 18th year of age. It outlines two target groups: Children
in need of care and protection and Juveniles in conflict with law.
This act protects not only the rights of children, but a person's
rights when he/she was a child. Meaning that if a crime or an incident
took place while the person was a child, and then during the proceeding
the juvenile ceased to be of age the case would continue as if the
juvenile has not turned eighteen yet.
Adoption under the JJ Act.
Under section 2(aa) of the Act (which was added through the amendment of 2006), the definition of adoption was laid down as follows:
"adoption means the process through which the adopted child is
permanently separated from his biological parents and become the
legitimate child of his adoptive parents with all the rights, privileges
and responsibilities that are attached to the relationship".
The Supreme Court verdict.
In a landmark and controversial judgment the Supreme Court, last Wednesday ruled that any person can adopt a child
under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000
irrespective of religion he or she follows and even if the personal laws
of the particular religion does not permit it. The bench
headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam ruled that:
"The JJ Act 2000 is a secular law enabling any person, irrespective of
the religion he professes, to take a child in adoption. It is akin to
the Special Marriage Act 1954, which enables any person living in India
to get married under that Act, irrespective of the religion he follows.
Personal beliefs and faiths, though must be honoured, cannot dictate the
operation of the provisions of an enabling statute".
Before this judgment the Muslims, Christians, Jews and those from the Parsi community
only had the power of guardianship in which one possess only legal right
on the child till he or she turns an adult. The biological parents had a right to intervene during that period. In other words, The right to adopt a child deemed to have been restricted to Hindus, Buddhists
and Jains.
Adoption- not a Fundamental Right.
The court turned down the plea for declaring the right of a
child to be adopted and right of a parent to adopt a fundamental right
under the Constitution, keeping in mind the view of conflicting practices and beliefs.
However, it recognised that the JJ Act is a
"small step towards formation of a uniform civil code". Also it said:
"A person is always free to adopt or choose not to do so and, instead,
he follows dictates of the personal law".
Controversy involved.
The ruling witnessed protest from the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) as it considers it a covert attempt to slip in a
uniform code by the backdoor which would infringe the Shariat law. Also, it has been criticised to be violative of Article 25 of the Constitution. Article 25 lays down that:
(1)
Subject to public order, morality and health and to the otherprovisions
of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience
and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion.
very interesting , good job and thanks for sharing such a valuable topic.
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