Experts call for efforts to protect rights of juvenile offenders

ABBOTTABAD: Speakers at a workshop on Monday called for launching an awareness campaign to educate stakeholders, including law-enforcement officials, about the provisions of the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018 to ensure its implementation in letter and spirit.A Lahore-based organization Sanjog had arranged the workshop, which was attended by media representatives and legal experts.

The speakers emphasized the need for effective implementation of the act to protect the rights of juvenile offenders. They also called for establishing the Juvenile Rehabilitation Centres, Observation Homes, the Juvenile Justice Committees.

Executive Director of Sanjog Hafiza Tayyaba Javaid briefed the participants about the organization’s work. She stressed the need for increasing funding and resources to establish Juvenile Rehabilitation Centres and Observation Homes all over the country. She called for an awareness campaign to educate stakeholders, including law enforcement officials, about the provisions of the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018 to ensure its implementation.

She said that Sanjog, under its Legal Aid Programme, had been working in different parts of the country, including Lahore.

Malik Saeed Akhtar Advocate during his presentation said that the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018 aimed to provide a child-friendly justice system focusing on rehabilitation and reintegration of juvenile offenders into society.

He said the provisions of the Act were yet to be materialized, adding that the Juvenile Rehabilitation Centres and Juvenile Courts did not exist in KP. He said the Act could not be implemented due to limited resources and infrastructure.

Malik Saeed asked the journalists to report on the cases of the juveniles under the provision of Section 13 of the Juvenile Act which stated that “Whoever prints or publishes the name or any matter which may make known identity of a juvenile shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine”.

Another keynote speaker from Lahore Waheed Ahmad Advocate, informed the participants that children being the most vulnerable citizens suffered due to the deficiencies in Pakistan’s criminal justice system, which was fraught with delays and procedural abuse.

He said that much had been written about the plight of children in detention, while different organizations, both government and non-governmental, were working to alleviate the problem. He highlighted different challenges faced by the juveniles which included lack of effective legal representation for children in detention.

He said that the majority of police officials were unaware of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018. He said that according to Section 83 of the Criminal Procedure Code no child between the ages of 12 and 14 should be arrested and if a person appeared to be of a tender age, the investigating officer should seek permission from the court of the judicial magistrate.Later certificates were distributed among the participants of the workshop.