An Analysis of Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015

Abstract

The Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 was strongly criticized by scholars from all spectrums of the society for its perceived failure to hold the child offender accountable. Therefore, emphasis was laid on increasing the quantum of punishment, in order to act as an effective deterrent. In the backdrop of the Nirbhaya case, the Parliament of India rushed to enact the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 as a fire-fighting measure, to mollify the public clamour. As per the new Act, children aged between sixteen to eighteen can be transferred to an adult criminal court, in the event they are alleged to have committed a heinous offence. The paper aims to analyze the framework of Section 15 of the Act, in the context of a juvenile's physiology. An attempt has also been made to study how other nations around the world are addressing the problem of juvenile delinquency. The paper concludes by highlighting the ambiguity in the legislation and suggests solutions for doing away with the same.