B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Offences against Child and Juvenile Offences (Hons) 2022 Oct Question Paper with Solutions

For full marks, cover: why children need special international protection; the early declarations (Geneva 1924, United Nations 1959); the general human rights treaties (Universal Declaration, ICCPR); the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, its four general principles and its Committee; the two Optional Protocols of 2000; the ILO Conventions on child labour; India's acceptance; Indian cases that use these instruments (Lakshmi Kant Pandey v. Union of India, Gaurav Jain v. Union of India); an assessment; and a conclusion.

Why a separate regime

Children are dependent on adults and cannot protect their own rights. They are open to neglect, abuse, labour, trafficking and sexual exploitation. So international law gives them rights of their own, beyond the general rights of every person.

2. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Article 24: every child has a right to the protection his status as a minor requires. Every child must be registered immediately after birth, have a name and may acquire a nationality.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989

Adoption and force. The Convention was adopted on 20 November 1989 and entered into force on 2 September 1990. It turned the Declarations into binding obligations.

Who is a child. Article 1: every human being below eighteen, unless majority comes earlier under the applicable law.

The four general principles. The Committee on the Rights of the Child treats four Articles as running through the whole Convention:

1. Non-discrimination (Article 2).
2. Best interests of the child as "a primary consideration" in all actions concerning children (Article 3(1)).
3. Life, survival and development (Article 6).
4. Respect for the child's views, given due weight by age and maturity (Article 12).

The ILO Conventions

1. Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138): each State fixes a minimum age for work. It is ordinarily not below fifteen, or fourteen for a developing economy, and eighteen for hazardous work.
2. Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182): it protects everyone below eighteen. It requires urgent elimination of slavery, trafficking, sexual exploitation, illicit work and harmful work.

India ratified both on 13 June 2017, specifying fourteen as its minimum age.

Assessment

Strengths. The Convention binds India and gives the child rights in the child's own name. Its principles, especially best interests, now appear in Indian statutes.

Weaknesses. It has no court. Enforcement depends on State reports and national law. India has not joined the complaints Protocol, so an Indian child cannot complain to the Committee.

Conclusion. The international regime grew from the Geneva Declaration of 1924 and the 1959 Declaration. It became binding in the Convention of 1989, with its four general principles and Committee. The Optional Protocols and ILO Conventions 138 and 182 add protection against armed conflict, sexual exploitation and child labour. India has accepted these instruments, and its courts use them (Lakshmi Kant Pandey, Gaurav Jain).