Implications of amending the legal definition of ‘children’

Recent incidents of violence by students and the increase of "teen gangs" have brought to the forefront talks on amending the definition of "children" in the existing laws in order to bring teenagers and adolescents within the scope of punishment. Rights activists have responded to the proposal for such change by bringing attention to Bangladesh's commitments to international human rights instruments which affirm the definition of "children" as including all those under the age of 18 years. Article 1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Child – to which Bangladesh is a party – confirms this position.

The Children Act, 2013 regulates the matters of trial in which the accused is a child (defined in section 4 of the Act as a person below 18 years of age) and provides for the procedure to be followed during trial and detention in relation to the "children in conflict with the law". These provisions require cases in which the accused is below 18 years of age to be tried before the Children Court and provides for various procedural safeguards for the accused child. Sections 33 and 34 of the 2013 Act provide safeguards with regard to sentencing. Section 33 states that children cannot be sentenced to death, or life imprisonment. Children may be sentenced to imprisonment only to the extent allowable, and if the requirements set forth in section 33 are met. Section 34 provides that if a child is found guilty of an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment, he/she may be sentenced to detention in the "Child Development Center" for up to 10 years. For any other offence, a child may be detained in the "Child Development Center" for up to 3 years.

A change in the definition of the child which reduces the age of children from 18 years would exclude those falling outside the definition, from the aforementioned safeguards. There would be no legal limits to the legal punishments to which these teenagers can be sentenced, and no protection as to the conditions in which they would be detained in prisons. As it is, there are concerns regarding the environment of the Child Development Centers, and complaints of mistreatment of children within such facilities. Under the 2013 Act, there are provisions on keeping children separate from adult prisoners if a child is sentenced to imprisonment. This would also be undone if children of particular age groups are removed from the definition of children.

The existing global approach to juvenile justice system is one focused on rehabilitation, reintegration into the mainstream, and prevention of future criminality, and the proposal to amend the definition would have serious impacts on ensuring these aims. Any amendment without due attention to the nature and motivation behind the recent criminality in adolescent groups may not be the most prudent or effective.