Restorative Justice For Juvenile Offenders In India: Assessing Effectiveness And Lessons From International Models
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
G R Swastiga, Tamil Nadu National Law University
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The treatment of juvenile offenders is a serious depiction of a society’s commitment to justice, human rights and child development. In India, though the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 shows a forward transition towards rehabilitation and restoration, in practice, the system yet relies on punitive responses that fail to tackle the main sources of juvenile offending. Numerous young offenders are handled by adversarial methods that emphasizes humiliation rather than offering an opportunity for sincere transformation. Restorative justice, which denotes dialogue, accountability, healing and community involvement, provides a meaningful substitute that comes together with the progressive understanding of child psychology and juvenile rehabilitation. Restorative justice within
India’s juvenile justice system is essential to study because it offers a child-centric method that not only addresses harm but also motivates victims and rehabilitates offenders. Disdain references to transformation and rehabilitation in Indian law, restorative justice is till now not institutionalized or uniformly practiced across jurisdictions. In this background, comparing
India’s model with successful restorative justice models in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Netherlands and Germany become highly appropriate. These countries have executed organized programs which have established positive results in reducing repetitive offenders and enlightening community-based restoration. Studying these international model aids evaluate their applicability, adaptability and cultural feasibility within the Indian setup.
This research focuses to analyse the effectiveness of restorative justice in India’s juvenile justice system, evaluate the degree to which the current legal framework supports its implementation and assess the prospect of adapting international best practices. The decisive objective is to give suggestions for making restorative justice as a main element of juvenile justice in India, guaranteeing a more rehabilitative and humane system for young offenders.
