Term Paper On
Social Context of Children in Nepal Juvenile Justice
Submitted to: Submitted by:
Dr. Bala Raju Nikku Bidhya Joshi Bikina Chhetri
Kadambari Memorial College Date: 21st November, 2010
Juvenile Justice:
Juvenile justice is the area of criminal law applicable to persons not old enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. In most states, juvenile justice law is applicable to those under 18 years old. Juvenile law is mainly governed by the juvenile justice codes of states. The main goal of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation rather than punishment.
Juvenile justice is administered through a
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In practice however these safeguards are not consistently respected and the investigation systems are not child friendly.
• The government of Nepal has established only one correctional home which is located in Kathmandu valley.
Status of Children in Nepal:
The population of children (below 18 years of age) is 12.2 million - around 48% of total population. Every week, 2000 children or every day 191 children lose their lives due to the country's indifference towards them. The under-five mortality rate is 59 out of every 1000 live births. Out of 3.6 million children under five years of age, 62% do not have access to basic health services. Every year 50,000 children die of preventable diseases. 39% children do not get to finish primary education. 2.6 million Children are working as child labourers in order to make out a living. Among them, 127,000 children's lives are in danger. Child marriage before the age of eighteen is at 51%. Every year, 12,000 children and women are trafficked in Nepal. Among them, 20% of children are below 16 years of age. Children are trafficked for domestic work, carpet weaving, circus, forced marriage and prostitution. (World Vision International Nepal, 2009) Fig.2: Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2006
Demographic Indicators to the top
Population (thousands), 2008, under 18 12666
Population (thousands), 2008, under 5 3535
Population annual growth rate (%), 1970–1990 2.4
What is a Juvenile? A juvenile is a person who has not reached his or her 18th birthday. Juvenile delinquency is the violation of a law of the United States committed by a person prior to reaching 18 years of age, which would have been a crime committed by an adult (office). There are many residential programs put in place all over the country to help these youths that are coming in and out of the Criminal Justice system. Once these Juveniles come out of jail, or get released on bond, they sometimes do not have a stable place to go to and live. As these youths are leaving the jail facility there are a wide variety of residential programs to help them get back on their feet. These residential programs include Out of home placement in an institutional or camp like setting, or they might be eligible for an alternative placement, such a community confinement. (programs)
Juvenile justice is the section of law that applies to persons under the age of 18 not capable of receiving sentencing in the adult court system or old enough to be responsible for criminal acts committed in society. In most states the age of criminal culpability is 18 however, the age requirement can be set lower in accordance to certain crimes and statutes set by the state the juvenile lives in. Juvenile law is primarily run by state law and most states enforce a specific juvenile code the system follows. The juvenile justice system primarily focuses on rehabilitation
The Youth Criminal Justice Act is the law that helps govern youth offenders in Canada, which has been created to introduce a overall fair and equitable method to deal with youth criminal offenders but could use further improvements. This act applies to youth between the ages of 12 and 17 and who have taken an offensive action against the law. Over the century there have been 3 youth justice statutes; the Juvenile Delinquents Act (1908-1984), the Young Offenders Act (YOA) (1984-2003), and the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) (2003-present). Significant changes were made to the act to make it much more fair and straight to the point. Changes such as the useage of courts in non-serious cases, fairness in sentencing, and lack of effective interrogation.
Today, the juvenile system primary goals are crime reduction and rehabilitation. The juvenile officials must assess whether youthful offenders are likely to commit crimes in the future and whether they can benefit from interventions. If these kids cannot benefit, then they will most like end up a delinquent. In most states delinquency is defined as the commission of a criminal act by a child who was under the age of 18 at that time (Virginia Rules). Most states allow youth to remain under the supervision of the juvenile court until the age of 21, but this depends on the type of crime that was committed. There has been many times where a juvenile case was transferred to an adult criminal court. This would have to be done thru a process called a waiver. A waiver is when a judge waives the protections that the juvenile court provides (Larry J. Siegel). Cases that
“ Worldwide, there are an estimated 246 million children engaged in child labour. Some 180 million children aged 5–17 (or 73 percent of all child labourers) are believed to be engaged in the worst forms of child labour, including working in hazardous conditions such as in mines and with dangerous machinery. Of these children, 5.7 million are forced into debt bondage or other forms of slavery, 1.8 million are forced into prostitution or pornography and 600,000 are engaged in other illicit activities.”
Early in U.S. history, children who broke the law were treated the same as adult criminals. If you are a young person under the age of 18 and you commit a crime, you will have your case heard in the juvenile justice system. The thing is that, it hasn’t always gone that way. The idea of a separate justice system for juveniles is just over one hundred years old (American Bar). Where did juvenile justice come from? The law was in the image of the common law of England. William Blackstone, Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, first published in the late 1760s, was admired by the United States founders.
The juvenile justice system is a foundation in society that is granted certain powers and responsibilities. It faces several different tasks, among the most important is maintaining order and preserving constitutional rights. When a juvenile is arrested and charged with committing a crime there are many different factors that will come in to play during the course of his arrest, trial, conviction, sentencing, and rehabilitation process. This paper examines the Juvenile Justice System’s court process in the State of New Jersey and the State of California.
Juvenile crime is a term around the world that is difficult to pinpoint and although there are several definitions many fail to be concrete. There are many factors that play into sentencing juveniles or minors upon a crime committed. How old are they? Can they mentally form criminal intent? Are they old enough to no longer be treated as children? Some people would argue that a criminal is just that, regardless of age. Research on the other hand shows that juveniles have underdeveloped brains who at times have difficulty rationalizing decisions and weighing out consequences. It is important that these issues are addressed because of the implications this has on not only the juveniles but the community around them. These
Reforming Juvenile Justice Law is the topic, which handles the treatment of children (under 18) who are in conflict with the Penal Code or vulnerable because they are at odds with the Penal Code and addresses the root causes that have made or offered to children to be in conflict with the law essentially. Today, the court system in this nation is partitioned into two gatherings when looking at juveniles and adults. One is the Adult Criminal Justice System, and the other is the Juvenile Justice System. The wording can be altogether different between the two systems. Case in point; if an adult is captured, they will be liable to a safeguard hearing. On the off chance that a juvenile is captured they should experience a detainment hearing. Adults
A juvenile is a person under the age of 18 who has been committed with a crime. Currently the Lynchburg Juvenile Regional Detention Center is currently working on ways to improve the quality of life of the juvenile inmates. The LJRDC works with forty-nine juvenile inmates at a time. Recently the center has been receiving more female inmates than they have
“The juvenile justice system was first created in the late 1800s to reform United States policies on how to handle youth offenders. Since that time, a number of reforms - aimed at both protecting the "due process of law" rights of youth, and creating an aversion toward jail among the young - have made the juvenile justice system more comparable to the adult system, which is a shift from the United States’ original intent (2008,Lawyer Shop.com).” The
According to Street Law, a juvenile is any person who is not yet an adult. In most states and the District of Columbia, individuals under 18 years of age are considered juveniles. The District of Columbia along with most states in the United States view any person under the age of 18 that has committed a crime as a juvenile criminal. Acts of a juvenile crime include but are not limited to: truancy, smoking, drinking, theft, rape, murder, defiance towards parents or guardian, etc. A juvenile criminal can only be held in a juvenile institution until the age of 21, no matter how gruesome their offense may have been.
Dinesh (changed name) a 17 year old lives in slum near the Nizamunddin flyover along with his mother and a brother. Last winter police took Dinesh on suspicion of stealing diamonds. “They asked to me to confess or else they would beat me to death” says Dinesh. The lower court orders for his bone-age during hearing and finds that he is juvenile.
The nation’s first juvenile court was established in 1899 as a part of the Juvenile Court Act. It was founded on three principles: juveniles are not ready to be held accountable for their actions, are not yet fully developed, and can rehabilitate easier than adults. In all but three states, anyone charged with committing a criminal act before his or her eighteenth birthday is considered a juvenile offender. Now more than ever, states and countries have begun to question the reliability of the juvenile court. Some believe the juvenile court system should be abolished because of its insufficient gain to the community. Others believe children are not fully capable to understand the degree of their actions and the consequences that come from them and believe that juvenile courts are a necessity in the court system.
The juvenile justice system is a system that evolves with society focusing on the welfare of the child, and the protection to the community. The history of the modern juvenile justice system began with the English common law. The common law specified an age limit on when a child could begin to be held accountable for criminal acts, which placed the age limit at seven (Champion, 2010). Although an age limit was placed on offenders, during the 1700s criminal offenders were treated in the same manner, which could include banishment, whippings, and other corporal punishments for offenders over the