NCJ Number
90690
Date Published
1981
Length
12 pages
Annotation
India's juvenile justice system differs from adult criminal processing in its primary emphasis on providing services that will assist in the delinquent's positive development rather than tailoring dispositions to offense severity, and the police are expected to treat juveniles in accord with this policy.
Abstract
India's juvenile court has the purpose of maintaining the rule of law by calling to account juveniles' law-violating behavior, while also seeing that the juveniles appearing before it receive the services to meet the needs and modify the conditions underlying the deviant behavior. Almost all of the Children Acts of the various Indian States make provision for such juvenile courts (86 juvenile courts in the country). The police have liaison both with the adult criminal justice system and the juvenile justice system. The police are required by law to deal with juveniles in particular ways that implement the policy of the juvenile justice system. Police are expected to be less severe in their treatment of juveniles compared to the handling of adult offenders. Police are further expected to immediately notify the appropriate probation agency so the investigation of the child's background and needs can begin as soon as possible. In cases where the police contact juveniles under the supervision of the juvenile court, such as when they are on probation or parole, the police are expected to cooperate with the supervising correctional agency in acting according to specific rehabilitative goals for the juvenile. Fifteen references are listed.