REGIONAL CONSULTATION ON EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF JJ(CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT, 2015

Cuttack– In a bid to enable action and convergence for children, a One and Half day Regional Consultation on Effective Implementation of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 has been organizedunder the aegis of Hon’ble High Court, Orissa, along withDept of Women and Child Development, Govt. of Odisha and UNICEF.

The State of Odisha has been one of the pioneers in reviewing the essence of the legislation and the juvenile justice systems along with tracking progress of child protection Services in the State on regular intervals so that measures for children in difficult circumstances can be tailored to their situations. Special focus of the consultation has been on child protection issues of children alleged to be in conflict with the law. Also mental health of Children during Covid-19 has been a focus area.

The one and half day Regional Conference involving 5 States viz. Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhatisgarh and all the stakeholders of juvenile justice sectorwas inaugurated at Odisha Judicial Academy, Cuttack on 23.04.2022 by Hon’ble Shri Justice S.Ravindra Bhat, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Chairperson, Juvenile Justice Committee, Supreme Court of India in the august presence of Hon’ble Dr. S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice, High Court of Orissa, Hon’ble Justice Madan B. Lokur, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India and Hon’ble Chairpersons of the Juvenile Justice Committees of the Hon’ble High Court of Orissa, Calcutta, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh and Hon’ble Judges of High Court of Orissa.The Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Department of Women and Child Development & Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha, Shri Bhaskar Sarma,gave the welcome address.Followed by Hon’ble Shri Justice Debabrata Dash, Chairperson, Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of Orissa gave the introductory address. ShriA.K.Mohapatra, Judge, High Court of Orissa gave vote of thanks.

All the Principal Magistrates of Juvenile Justice Boards of the State of Odisha, presiding officers of the Childrens’ Courts, Judicial Officers (PM, JJBs) each from the above 4 neighbouring States, the Chairpersons of CWCs of Odisha, representatives from SJPUs of Odisha, DCPOs from Odisha, Superintendents of Observation Homes of Odisha, officials dealing with Child Protection from each of the above 4 neighbouring States, representatives from NCPCR and Govt. of India, representatives from OSCPS, W&CD and UNICEF, NGOs of the State, Staffs of NLUO, Centre for Child Rights and members fromCivil Society Organisations also attended the meet.

The first technical session was chaired by Hon’bleShri Justice Parth Prateem Sahu, Chaiperson, Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of Chhatisgarh and Hon’ble Shri Justice  Harish Tandon, Chairperson, Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of Calcuttawherein the speakersMs. Ved Kumari, Vice Chancellor, National Law University, Odisha, Cuttack, Dr. Mohua Nigudkar, Faculty, TISS, Mumbai, & Former Juvenile Justice Board Member (Mumbai Suburban), Prof. Enakshi Ganguly, Honorary Professor, National Law University, Odisha presented an overview of Rehabilitation and social re-integration of children in conflict with the lawwith a focus onPreliminary Assessment under Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and Promotion of measures for working with children in conflict with law: Reformation & Principle of Diversion. In the same session, Mr. Santosh Dash Ray, Officer on Special Duty (Vigilance), High Court of Orissa shared few best practices during his tenure as a Principal Magistrate, Juvenile Justice Board.

The second technical session was held in the afternoon chaired by Hon’ble Dr. Justice S. N. Pathak, Chairperson, Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of Jharkhand, wherein the speaker Prof. Enakshi Ganguly, Honorary Professor, National Law University, Odishadeliberated about theChanges to the Juvenile Justice Act in the context of amendments: A discussion on future needs, possible challenges, workforce strengthening, capacity enhancement and monitoring.

During the third technical session chaired by Hon’ble Miss Justice Savitri Ratho, Member, Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of Orissa, the speaker Harish Shetty, Psychiatrist, Symbiosis Law School, Pune, deliberated aboutthe Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for children during COVID-19.

On 24.04.2022, the fourth and the final technical session is to be chaired byHon’ble Shri Justice Ashutosh Kumar, Chairperson, Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of Patna. The session will start with the presentations by the Govt. of Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and West Bengal on the work that their State has done with regard to Child Protection.The Speaker, Dr. Anindita Pujhari Advocate on record, Supreme Court of Indiawill deliberate about Promoting non-Institutional Care.Then an interactive session shall be done where real life experiences are to be shared by one Child placed in non-institutional care, by one child placed in foster care and one foster family who narrated their real life experience. The Consultation ended with the Closing remarks from the Chair.