Daily Times

LAHORE: Human rights activists have asked the Punjab government to establish juvenile courts on immediate basis, rather than anti-terrorism courts, for children in conflict with law.

In this regard, a non-governmental organisation, Sanjog, said the government should take legislative and administrative measures for implementation of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000.

“Sanjog appreciates the steps taken for better protection of the rights of the children in conflict with law, reflected in the recent legislative amendment about raising minimum age for criminal responsibility to 10 years,” Nabila Feroz Bhatti, liaison officer at Sanjog, said.

“Effective implementation of the JJSO 2000 and other related laws can be an effective tool in reducing the number of children in the prisons,” she added.

Lahore Bar Association’s Child Rights Committee Chairman Advocate Chaudhry Waheed Ahmad said till date no such juvenile courts have been established by any provincial government throughout Pakistan.

Advocate Qamar Hanif, a representative of AGHS Legal Aid Cell, said the Lahore High Court, as a temporary arrangement, had conferred powers of juvenile courts on different grades of ordinary courts.

He, however, said it was not effective. Currently more than 85 per cent of the juveniles are under trial, he said. He added that most of them were in detention for more than six months.

Child Rights Movement Punjab representative Ansar Sajjad Bhatti said Article 5 of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000, prohibits joint trial of children and adults.

“Furthermore when juveniles are tried by special terrorist courts, the procedures do not fully comply with internationally agreed fair trial standards.”

Sanjog Advocacy Officer Mamoona Tahir said most provisions of the mentioned ordinance were at best partially implemented. “The JJSO has not been extended to large areas of the country where children are trilled and held under laws that entirely ignore the specific rights and needs of children.”