Balancing Justice and Rights: Protecting Juvenile in the Criminal Justice System

Juvenile delinquency refers to illegal or antisocial behaviour committed by a person under the age of 18. It includes a wide range of activities, from minor offenses to more serious crimes such as theft, assault, or drug-related activities. The major causes of juvenile delinquency are family issues and neglect by the family members, peer influence or belonging to a group of such person, poverty and lack of education as well as poor mental health of the person also leads to such activity. The paper deals with the child delinquency, causes and prevention of juvenile delinquency. “The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015” and its aspects which protect the juvenile and bring reformation have been dealt with. The paper further deals with the legal framework with respect to child delinquency. The provisions under “Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023”; “Constitution of India”; “The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015” and “The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021” have been discussed. It further discussed the role played by judiciary and criminal justice system in giving effect to “The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015”. The shortcomings of the said Act as well as the international concern for juvenile justice have been dealt with. Juvenile delinquency is a serious problem so measures have been taken and more reforms are needed to protect the rights of juvenile and bring them at par with the normal footing.