Lecture- 7

Juvenile Delinquency

Definition• The term ‘juvenile delinquency’ has been differently

interpreted by criminologist. • Generally speaking, the term refers to a large variety of

disapproved behaviour of children and adolescents which the society does not approve of, and for which some kind of admonishment, punishment or corrective measure is justified in the public interest.

• Thus, the term has a very extensive meaning and includes rebellious and hostile behavior of children and their attitude of indifference towards society.

• Sethna said that certain other acts such begging, truancy, vagrancy, obscenity, loitering, pilfering, drinking, gambling etc. which various person very often commit are also included within the meaning of the term juvenile delinquency.

• It may, therefore, inferred that a juvenile delinquent is an adolescent person between childhood and manhood or womanhood, as the case may be, who indulges in some kind of anti-social behavior, which if not checked, may turn him into a potential offender.

• Caldwell in his ‘Criminology’ prefers to leave the term vague and includes within it all acts of children which tend them to be pooled indiscriminately as wards of the state.

• The Second United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders held in London in August 1960, took up the problem juvenile delinquency and consensus was that the issue of definition need not be stretched too far and the meaning of the term ‘juvenile delinquency’ be restricted to all violations of criminal law and maladjusted behaviors of minor which are disapproved by society.

• Causes of Juvenile Delinquency1. Family factors: • Sutherland holds that out of all the social process the

family back-ground has perhaps the greatest influence on criminal behaviour of the offender.

• Broken family• Lack of parental control• Frequent quarrels amongst parents.• Step motherly treatment with the child.• Immorality of parents.• Parent continued long absence from home for sake of

livelihood. 2. Poverty:• Failure of parents to provide necessities of life draws

their children to delinquency in a quest for earning money by whatever means.

3. Biological approach:• Early maturity or low intelligence also account for

delinquent behavior.• Ex- today, Bangladeshi girls attain puberty at the age

of twelve or thirteen while they still remain mentally incapable of conceiving about the realities of life. In result, they fall an easy prey to sex involvements for momentary pleasure without, however, realizing the seriousness of the consequences of their act.

4. Psychological approach:• Offenders lend into criminality on account of

functional deviation and mental conflicts. • This mental conflicts is soar to apex at the time of

adolescence.

5. Laws of Imitation• Juvenile imitate the adult and indulge in crime.6. Differential Association• The juvenile coming in close association of a

criminal commits crime.7. Favorable circumstances• Children residing besides hat-bazar or cinema-theater

become delinquent. 8. Rapid change of society• Children are confronted with the problem of cultural

conflict and are unable to differentiate between right and wrong.

• 9. Effect of industrialization• Industrialization gives rise to new problems such as

housing, slum dwelling, overcrowding, lack of parental control and disintegration and so on.

• 10. Lack of proper recreation• For lack of proper recreation, children resort to

loitering, enjoying pornography, eve-teasing etc.• 11. Institutional cause• The attitude of the teachers sometimes make the

students truant. • 12. Migration• Migration of deserted and destitute boys to slums

brings them in contact with anti-social elements such as prostitution, smuggling and so forth.

Distinction: Criminal and Delinquent

1. Age

2. Responsibility and blame

3. Emphasis on personality and motivation

4. Therapeutic and Rehabilitation

5. Judicial procedure is more personalized.

• Juvenile Justice System in Bangladesh• Definition of Children: • "Child" means a person under the age of sixteen years.–

Children Act, 1974• Criminal responsibility of a child• Sections- 82 and 83 of the Penal Code.• Juvenile Courts: Section 4 of Children Act• The powers conferred on a Juvenile Court by this Act shall

also be exercisable by‑•  the High Court Division,• a Court of Session,• a Court of an Additional Sessions Judge and of an Assistant

Sessions Judge,• a Sub-Divisional Magistrate, and• a Magistrate of the first class, whether trying any case

originally or on appeal or in revision.

• Section 5 of the Children Act--. Powers of Juvenile Courts

1. The Court shall try all cases in which a child is charged with the commission of an offence.

2. It shall deal with and dispose of all other proceedings under this Act.

• Arrest, Detention, Bail and Discharge of Juvenile delinquents

• Page- 172• Trial Procedure for Juvenile Delinquents• Page-173

• BLAST vs. Bangladesh and others [‘Children Act, 1974’ Case] Writ Petition No. 1341 of 2000

• High Court Division of the Supreme Court of BangladeshFacts: BLAST, along with a convict under the Nari o Shishu Nirjatan (Bishesh Bidhan) Ain, 1995, Alamgir Hossain, filed a writ petition challenging the judgment and order of sentence and conviction passed by the Nari o Shishu Nirjatan Daman Bishesh Adalat (Suppression of Violence Against Women and Children Tribunal), Comilla. The convict petitioner had been sentenced to imprisonment and fine under Section 5 (Kha) and 5 (Gha) of the Act after the Tribunal came to a conclusive decision that the age of the accused was aged 14-15 at the time of trial.Argument: The petitioners argued that because the age of the accused was 14-15 years at the time of the trial, the Tribunal had been coram non-judice and the Juvenile Court had exclusive jurisdiction to try the case under the Children Act, 1974. The Tribunal, after determining the age of the accused, had acted ultra vires in trying and sentencing him, making the trial and conviction bad in law and void ab initio. Moreover, the conviction was solely based on an uncorroborated confessional statement, which the convict had alleged was obtained by coercion.

• Order: The High Court held that the trial had been held without jurisdiction and without lawful authority and that therefore the impugned judgment and order of conviction were void ab initio. The Court ordered the respondents to release the convict forthwith and also directed the authorities to take due care in conducting the cases of juvenile offenders under the Children Act. It also directed the respondents to send a copy of the judgment to all Deputy Commissioners for onward transmission to government officials.

Laws Cited: The Children Act, 1974; The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898

Status: Judgment delivered

Reported: 22 BLD (HCD)(2002) 211