“Virtual Consultation on Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021.”

Virtual Consultation on Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021

The Centre for Child Rights, National Law University Odisha organized virtual consultation on April 3rd, 2021 to discuss and deliberate upon the usefulness and adversaries of the provisions in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021 in practical administration of juvenile justice in the perspective of the best interest of the child.

?he objectives of the Consultation were to :-

• Understand the implication of changes in the practice of juvenile justice administration and the accountability among the multi-stakeholders;
• Collect opinions of?egal professionals, policy makers, academics, child rights activists, civil society organizations to identify key areas and other cross cutting issues?hich are still untouched in juvenile justice law or child protection policy;
• Formulate action oriented recommendations and advocacy issues ?

Consultation was attended by ninety seven persons including judges, lawyers, academicians, child rights commission, bureaucrats, child rights activists and the functionaries of Juvenile Justice Boards, Child Welfare Committees, District Child Protection Units, Child Care Institutions and Child Rights Centers of various National Law Universities, The consultation was enriched by the presence of the following speakers and panelists of great eminence.

• Hon’ble Mr. Justice Madan B. Lokur, Former Judge Supreme Court of India
• Hon’ble Mr. Justice Jaswant Singh, Judge and Chairperson Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of Punjab & Haryana
• Hon’ble Mr. Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili, Judge and Chairperson Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of Telengana
• Hon’ble Mr. Justice G.R Swaminathan, Judge and Member Juvenile Justice Committee, Madurai Bench, High Court of Madras
• Hon’ble Mr. Justice N.Kotiswar Singh, Judge and Member Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of Assam
• ( Dr) Ved Kumari, Vice-Chancellor, National Law University Odisha
• (Dr)Faizan Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor, NALSAR, University of Law, Hyderabad
• Anant Kumar Asthana, Advocate, New Delhi
• Maharukh Adenwalla, Advocate, Mumbai
• Nilima Mehta, Professor & Child Rights Specialist, Mumbai
• Nina Nayak, Former Member, NCPCR
• Tannistha Datta, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF Country Office, India

The consultation made a threadbare discussions on the impact of changes in the practice of juvenile justice administration and the consequence and effectiveness of the adoption order by the District Magistrate by the virtue of the Amendment Bill, 2021.?The Consultation resolved that recommendations and opinions emerged from the discussions shall be submitted to the Minister of Women and Child Development, Government of India for consideration and appropriate action.