Write short note on 'Juvenile Justice Act'

The Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act was launched in 1986 with a view to providing a uniform pattern of justice to the Juveniles throughout the length & breadth of the country. The Act makes provision for the protection & rehabilitation of neglected children & & ensures that legally no child is lodged in jail or detained in police lock-up. The JJ Act categorizes children into

(i) those who are neglected, destitute, orphaned & in dire need of care & protection. They are lodged in an orphanage, observation homes or remand homes and
(ii) Delinquent children who await correctional measures.

Neglected Juvenile is a girl below 18 years & a boy below 16 years 'who may found begging, without having any home or settled place or abode, or without any ostensible means of subsistence, with parents or guardians unable to exercise control of them'. They are lodged in reformatory institutions & special schools. The JJ Act was replaced with the Juvenile Justice (care & protection of children) Act, 2000. This JJ Act, 2000 is more child-friendly. In this Act, children are categorized into Juvenile offenders & the neglected child. Further, 18 years is laid out as the cut off age to treat boys & girls as children. The Act makes the setting up of Juvenile Justice Boards, Child Welfare committees & special Juvenile police units compulsory.