SANJOG Demands for establishment of exclusive Juvenile courts

Lahore: The members of SANJOG-Pakistan Demands for establishment of exclusive Juvenile courts in Punjab and separate trial of children in Anti Terrorist Court in a Walk in Lahore. Mr. Waheed Ahmad Advocate Representing Sanjog as a Training and liaison officer, Shared that Juvenile justice in Pakistan deals with crimes committed by Pakistani children. The minimum age for criminal responsibility in Pakistan is seven years. On 1st July, 2000, the Government of Pakistan promulgated the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) that provides protection to children involved in criminal litigation. The most significant aspect of this law was the establishment of juvenile courts for the trial of the cases of children in conflict with law.

Ms. Mamoona Tahir Advocacy officer of Sanjog said that as the Lahore High Court judgment of December 2004 pointed out, the JJSO fails explicitly to extend the jurisdiction of juvenile courts to cases where special courts exist exclusively to try the specific offences with which a juvenile may be charged. As a result juveniles may be tried by special terrorist courts whose procedures do not fully comply with internationally agreed fair trial standards. Article 5 of the JJSO prohibits the joint trial of children and adults. It provides: “… no child shall be charged with or tried for an offence together with an adult” and that “the court taking cognizance of the offence shall direct separate trial of the child by the Juvenile Court”.

In the end Ms. Hafiza Tayyba Javaid Senior project officer of Sanjog concluded that effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) 2000 and other related laws can be an effective tool in reducing the number of children in prisons and establishment of exclusive Juvenile courts will be helpful to speed up the process of Juvenile’s cases.