Kochi, Sep 4 (PTI) The Juvenile Justice Committee of the Kerala High Court, in association with UNICEF Keralam, will organise a state-level stakeholders’ consultation here on Saturday to review a decade of implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
The consultation, on the theme ‘Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 – A Decade of Implementation and the Way Forward’, will be held at 10 am at a hotel here.
The programme is being organised as part of preparations for the Annual National Stakeholders Consultation to be convened under the aegis of the Juvenile Justice Committee of the Supreme Court of India. The national consultation is scheduled for October 10 and 11 in New Delhi, according to a statement on Saturday.
The national exercise will review progress in strengthening child protection and justice systems, identify persistent implementation challenges and formulate priorities for the next decade.
The state-level consultation will bring together stakeholders from the judiciary, Women and Child Development, Police, Health, Social Justice, Education and Local Self Government departments, legal services institutions, child protection institutions, the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, UNICEF, experts and civil society organisations, it said.
The discussions will examine the functioning of the juvenile justice system in Kerala and the extent to which the Act has translated into meaningful outcomes for children, with focus on access to care, protection, rehabilitation, family-based care and justice services.
Judicial officers, government officials, police officers, child protection functionaries, legal services authorities, academics, experts and civil society representatives will participate in the deliberations, it said.
The inaugural session will be chaired by Justice K Natarajan, Chairperson of the Juvenile Justice Committee of the High Court of Kerala. Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Justice Soumen Sen will deliver the inaugural address.
Members of the Juvenile Justice Committee — Justice P V Kunhikrishnan, Justice Shoba Annamma Eapen and Justice M A Abdul Hakhim — will also participate in the deliberations.
The consultation assumes significance as the national exercise will draw upon evidence from annual submissions by states to the Supreme Court’s Juvenile Justice Committee since 2023, as well as findings of state-level consultations conducted under the aegis of High Court Juvenile Justice Committees, the statement added. PTI LGK ADB
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