CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR  THE JUVENILE (18 years of age below)

Are favor in criminal liability for the juvenile age 18 below?

      Exception for children aged 10 or 11, who can be charged with murder, manslaughter, rape or aggravated sexual assault. Juvenile judiciary system for offenders aged between 14 and 18; separate juvenile jails. Full criminal responsibility from age 18.

       Juvenile crime is one of the nation's serious problems. Concern about it is widely shared by federal, state, and local government officials and by the public. In recent years, this concern has grown with the dramatic rise in juvenile violence that began in the mid-1980s and peaked in the early 1990s. Although juvenile crime rates appear to have fallen since the mid-1990s, this decrease has not alleviated the concern. Many states began taking a tougher legislative stance toward juveniles in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period during which juvenile crime rates were stable or falling slightly, and federal reformers were urging prevention and less punitive measures. Some of the dissonance between the federal agenda and what was happening in the states at that time may have been caused by significant changes in legal procedures that made juvenile court processes more similar—though not identical—to those in criminal (adult) court. The main response to the most recent spike in violent juvenile crime has been enactment of laws that further blur distinctions between juvenile courts and adult courts. States continued to toughen their juvenile crime laws in recent years, making sentencing more punitive, expanding allowable transfers to criminal (adult) court, or doing away with some of the confidentiality safeguards of juvenile court. Many such changes were enacted after the juvenile violent crime rate had already begun to fall. The rehabilitative model embodied in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, focusing on the needs of the young offender, has lost ever more ground over the past 20 years to punitive models that focus mainly on the offense committed.

Republic Act No. 9344 

          AN ACT ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE JUVENILE JUSTICE AND WELFARE SYSTEM, CREATING THE JUVENILE JUSTICE AND WELFARE COUNCIL UNDER THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

      The State recognizes the vital role of children and youth in nation building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.

The State shall protect the best interests of the child through measures that will ensure the observance of international standards of child protection, especially those to which the Philippines is a party. Proceedings before any authority shall be conducted in the best interest of the child and in a manner which allows the child to participate and to express himself/herself freely. The participation of children in the program and policy formulation and implementation related to juvenile justice and welfare shall be ensured by the concerned government.

observance of international standards of child protection, especially those to which the Philippines is a party. Proceedings before any authority shall be conducted in the best interest of the child and in a manner which allows the child to participate and to express himself/herself freely. The participation of children in the program and policy formulation and implementation related to juvenile justice and welfare shall be ensured by the concerned government agency.

      Although the law is always fairly progressive but still it have certain gaps that could need to be filled by effective reforming, treating and rehabilitating juveniles who commit serious offences and preventing recidivism. Evidence Based Research on „what works‟ with such juveniles reveals a range of interdisciplinary strategies1 , approaches and models; the insights of which was to inform law reform processes in India. We have to resort for the best practices from other jurisdictions 2 . Specially insights of the individuals and organizations working in the interest of children across the country needs to be collated and analysed to identify gaps or loopholes in law. The Centre for Child and the Law‟s Juvenile Justice Team‟s (JJ Team) investigates in Bangalore Urban and Rural, (especially on Multi-Disciplinary Pre-Hearing Case Conferences,3 juveniles alleged/found to have committed serious crime along with other factors involved in his/her case, aimed at impacting JJB decisions, individual care plans, and pre-release and post-release plans), is also informative in this regard. The Act does not take into interest the special needs and requirements of certain sub-groups among juveniles in conflict with law. For instance, fails to formulate guidelines or policy directions for dealing with juvenile sex offenders, recidivists, female juveniles and child or other victims of juvenile crime.

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/145628/12/12_conclusion.pdf

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/145628/12/12_conclusion.pdf