JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, INDIA
VOL. 21, 2022
6. Recommendations for Law Reform in the MACR in IPC, 1860 and
Preliminary Assessment in JJ Act, 2015
A child in conflict with the law should “be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion
of the child’s sense of dignity and worth, and which reinforces the child’s respect for the
human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child’s
age and the desirability of promoting the child’s reintegration and the child’s assuming a
constructive role in society.”42
In India, in Sections 82 and 83 of the Indian Penal Code, we have two minimum ages of
criminal responsibility of the child — 7 years and 12 years. The CRC Committee in General
Comment 10 has expressed concern about the practice of allowing exceptions to a minimum
age of criminal responsibility, which permits the use of a lower minimum age of criminal
responsibility in cases where the child, for example, is accused of committing a serious
offence or where the child is considered mature enough to be held criminally responsible.
The Committee strongly recommends State parties to set a minimum age of criminal
responsibility that does not allow, by way of exception, the use of a lower age.43
Section 82, IPC, 1860 must be amended so that there is only one age of criminal responsibility.
The upper age limit of the juvenile justice system/criminal majority is universally fixed
at 18 years of age and corresponds to the definition of a child contained in Article 1 of the
Convention. This means that every person under the age of 18 years at the time of the alleged
commission of an offence has the right to be treated in accordance with the rules of juvenile
justice, in a specific and specialised system, different from the criminal one applicable to
adults.
Article 15(3) of the Constitution of India provides for special provisions for children. Justice
Verma Committee report takes a sincere effort to resolve the injustice happening in society by
giving some contentions and assertions in their report. Justice J.S. Verma Committee report on
‘Amendments to Criminal Law’ has noted that “the Juvenile Justice Act has failed miserably
42
43
58
UNCRC, 1989, Article 40(1).
UN General Comment 24 in para 35. Available at : https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/CRC/GC24/
GeneralComment24.pdf Accessed on Oct. 1, 2022.