CHILD RIGHTS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: NEED FOR LAW REFORM in children being wrongly charged, serving time in detention on remand where it could have been avoided, being held on remand in adult prisons, and spending extended periods of time on remand. Studies have also indicated that these children are often treated harshly by the police, and the police largely abide by the procedure laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973,38 rather than the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015.39 General Comment No. 10 [2007] regarding Children’s rights in juvenile justice, issued by the Committee on the Rights of the Child,40 is very articulate in this respect — Children differ from adults in their physical and psychological development, and their emotional and educational needs. Such differences constitute the basis for the lesser culpability of children in conflict with the law. These and other differences are the reasons for a separate juvenile justice system and require a different treatment for children.41 The international legal framework requires that States afford children specialised justice responses, in recognition of the distinct physical, psychological, emotional and educational characteristics of childhood, and children’s evolving capacities. Article 40 (3) of CRC, requires that State parties shall seek to promote the establishment of laws, procedures, authorities and institutions specifically applicable to children in conflict with the penal law. Therefore placing 16-18 years old children, who have committed heinous offences in the criminal justice system offences is violative of constitutional mandate, rights of the child under CRC, and other legal instruments of international law ratified by India. 38 39 40 41 The Code of Criminal Procedure commonly called Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India.[1] It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974.[2] It provides the machinery for the investigation of crime, apprehension of suspected criminals, collection of evidence, determination of guilt or innocence of the accused person and the determination of punishment of the guilty. Available at: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/16225?sam_ handle=123456789/1362. Accessed on Oct. 20, 2022 Legal Aid Among Children in conflict with law in Karnataka, Centre for Child and Law, NLSIU, Bangalore, 2018 The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the body of 18 independent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by its states parties. For details see: https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc/introduction-committee, visited on 24.9.2022. UN Commit on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General Comment No. 10 (2007): Children’s Rights in Juvenile Justice, 25 April 2007, CRC/C/ GC/10, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4670fca12.html [accessed 24 September 2022] 57