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‘Juvenile homes are not prison homes’
This conference was fourth of the six consultations planned jointly by UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) and JTRI across six locations in Uttar Pradesh out of which consultations have already been held at Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Gautam Buddh Nagar.
The UNICEF and Judicial Training and Research Institute (JTRI) organised a day-long consultation for strengthening the support system for child victims of cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) and for effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, at the Shatabadi Auditorium, HBTU, Kanpur Nagar on Sunday.
This conference was fourth of the six consultations planned jointly by UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) and JTRI across six locations in Uttar Pradesh out of which consultations have already been held at Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Gautam Buddh Nagar, respectively. District Bareilly and Prayagraj have been identified for the rest of the two consultations in the upcoming weeks.
District judges, judges of special courts, principal magistrates and member of Juvenile Justice Board, officers from police and health departments of ten districts, covered under Kanpur Nagar zone participated in the conference.
The event started with the address of Dr Justice KJ Thaker, chairman of Juvenile Justice Committee, Allahabad High Court in which he mentioned about the conditions of observation homes and special homes and requested the judicial officers to visit juvenile homes of their districts regularly.
He said, “Juvenile homes are not prison homes,” which speaks volumes about the expected difference in approach when dealing with children in conflict with law. While addressing the pendency in cases of juveniles, Justice Thaker urged the Judges to consider and readily dispose of old matters with their judicial insight. He especially directed the judges of POCSO courts to overview the proceedings of JJBs of their districts.
Amit Mehrotra, programme manager, UNICEF, Uttar Pradesh spoke about the objectives of the conference and mentioned about the role of UNICEF in providing advocacy for adoption of child-friendly processes.
