The Children Act 2013: A milestone of child protection

The first expression of international concern about the protection of children came in 1923 through “Geneva Declaration” under the aegis of League of Nations. After the establishment of UNO in 1945, children were included in human rights agenda and various instruments for their protection. Like many countries in the world, Bangladesh formally focused its attention on children protection in the Constitution of Bangladesh and customary laws from the very beginning of its independence. But there is no special children justice law and no positive legislation having opportunities for physical, moral and intellectual development of children. After 42 years of liberation of Bangladesh, the law has not substantially been changed to protect children. Though the Children Act 1974 and the Children Rules 1976 are considered as the basic law for children justice, these are not comprehensive and in conformity with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) of 1989 and the other international standards. Consequently, children suffer adversely from existing laws. It is a great challenge to ensure the over-all improvement of the children justice system through a specific child-oriented law in Bangladesh.
In this context, the Government of Bangladesh passed of the Children Act 2013 on the basis of the CRC that Bangladesh ratified long ago (The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989 came into force on 2 September, 1990 in Bangladesh). However, in Bangladesh, the Children Act 2013 is a positive step and it is a great milestone for the protection of the rights of the child in all sphere of life. The numbers of vital issues on child rights have been dealt with in the Act. Furthermore, the Act recognises some organisations and members and mentions about their responsibilities for protection of the best interest the children. The main issues of the new Act are presented below:
Harmonised with the CRC:  The Children Act, 2013 is based on the CRC and has referred to the CRC in the preamble and replaced the Child Act 1974.  As a result of this development, children in Bangladesh will have the opportunities to be treated fairly both under the national and international laws.
Internationally recognised definition for a child: Due to the differences in ages of children, they were denied fair justice. This discrepancy has been addressed in the Children Act, 2013. In the Act, the age of the child has been increased from 16 to 18 years. So, child age has been fixed up to 18 years.
Protection of child victims and witnesses: For the first time, the Act has a provision for child victims and witnesses cementing legal instruments for their protection, including compensation for victims. For children in conflict with the law, the law reinforces the importance of the children justice system meaning that children accused of petty crime, particularly children living on the streets will no longer be unnecessarily detained.
Appointment of probation officer: According to the Act, the government will appoint one or more Probation Officer/s in the district, upazila and metropolitan areas.
Child help desks in the police station: As per the Act, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Child Help Desks will be formed in police stations all over the country. An officer, ranked sub-inspector or above, will look after the desk. The Act specifies responsibilities of the designated police officer.
Child-friendly arrest procedure: According to the Act, whatever the circumstance is, child aged below nine cannot be arrested. If a child above nine is being arrested, law enforcers cannot apply handcuffs and rope around waist to the child.
Single charge sheet against children: The Act specifies about submitting charge sheet against children. According to the Act, a single charge sheet consisting of adults and children cannot be submitted.
Juvenile Court at district level: According to the Act, at least one juvenile court will be formed in district or metropolitan area. If a case is filed against a child, whatever crimes s/he committed, the juvenile court will try him/her.
Constitute National Child Welfare Board: Under the Act, a National Child Welfare Board will be formed. The minster of the Ministry of Social Welfare will be the chairperson of the board. Boards at the district and Upazila levels will also be formed. District Commissioner and Upazila Nirbahi Officer (sub-district executive officer) will be the presidents of the boards respectively.
Alternative preventive measures: As per the Act, it states that the police officer or juvenile court can look for alternative preventive measures during any stages of the formal judicial system. It has also been mentioned in Act that there will be a monitoring process for checking, whether the directed alternative measures have any positive impact on the child's behaviour.
Provision of sentence: The Act proposed for highest five years imprisonment and Taka one lakh fines for any cruelty on children as well as giving a guideline for bringing up the children in a conducive atmosphere.
Responsibility of media: Media is prohibited to publish articles, photographs and information that go against a child under trial in this Act.
Well-being of the children: This Act encourages family based care and protection considering best interest of the child and meaningful child participation.
However, it can be said that the Children Act, 2013 will cover lacunas of earlier Children Act, 1974. Now we need to create proper awareness and execution about the new Act. We hope, a child-friendly justice system by the proper implementation of the Children Act 2013 would be started as soon as possible in Bangladesh.

The writer is a Research Fellow of the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue, University of Malaya, Malaysia.