JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, INDIA VOL. 21, 2022 of CRC, the Government has the responsibility to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or family members. As per the JJA 2015, the role of legal services authorities in providing legal aid to children is very important. Section 8 (3)(c) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, ensures that the function of the Juvenile Justice Board shall be to ensure the availability of legal aid for the child through the legal services institutions. Section 30 (xvii) says that the functions and responsibilities of the Child Welfare Committee shall include accessing appropriate legal services for children. Section 53(1) (viii) says that institutions registered under the Act for rendering the services of rehabilitation and reintegration to include legal aid where required. Guidelines have been issued by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) for Legal Services in Juvenile Justice Institutions in connection with the compliance of the order dated 19.08.2011 of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in case35 to establish legal aid centres attached to JJBs.36 As per this scheme, when a child is produced before the Board by the Police, the Board should call the legal aid lawyer in front of it, should introduce juvenile/parents to the lawyer, juvenile and his/her family/parents should be made to understand that it is their right to have legal aid lawyer and that they need not have to pay any fees to anyone for this. The JJB should give time to legal aid lawyer to interact with the juvenile and his/her parents before conducting hearing. The Juvenile Justice Board should mention in its order that legal aid lawyer has been assigned and name and presence of legal aid lawyers should be mentioned in the order.37 In practice, studies have shown that majority of children in the criminal justice system nor their parents are aware of this right to legal aid and many of them do not receive it and if they receive, the quality is poor as lawyers are not aware of the juvenile justice laws. Many of these legal aid centres are only on paper. The lack of legal aid many a times has resulted 35 36 37 56 Sampurna Behrua V. Union of India & Ors. W.P. No. (C) No. 473/2005 Available at : https://nalsa.gov.in/acts-rules/preventive-strategic-legal-services-schemes/nalsa-child-friendly-legal-services-to-childrenand-their-protection-scheme-2015. Accessed on Oct. 20, 2022 Available at : https://nalsa.gov.in/acts-rules/preventive-strategic-legal-services-schemes/nalsa-child-friendly-legal-services-to-childrenand-their-protection-scheme-2015. Accessed on Oct. 20, 2022