Evolution of The Juvenile Justice System

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM: A
CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT—
The noted Nobel Laureate Gabrial Mistral
expressing his concern for child-care, long ago
observed: “We are guilty of many errors and
many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning
the children, neglecting the foundation of life.
Many of the things we need can wait, the child
cannot, right now is the time his bones are being
formed, his blood is being made and his senses
are being developed. To him, we cannot answer
‘tomorrow’. His name is “Today.” In a civilized
society, Children are a “supremely important
national asset”2 and the future well being of the
nation depends on how its children grow and
develop.
The problem of juvenile delinquency is
essentially not of a recent origin, and it has further
increased, because children get easily attracted
to temptations of life and leap into criminality.
In order to curb such a situation, a Justice system
had to be formulated. The early penology did
not recognize any discrimination between adult
and juvenile offenders, so far as the punishment
was concerned.3 The Juvenile Justice System in
India originated during the British Rule and was
a direct consequen4ce of development in the field
of prison reforms and juvenile justice, that took
place in the west . The history of Juvenile Justice
System in India can be divided into five periods
with reference to legislative or other landmark
developments, as—(i) prior to 1773; (ii) 1773-
1850; (iii) 1850-1918; (iv) 1919-1950; (v) post
1950.