Author
Prof AWEKTA VERMA
Organisation/Institution
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
Country
INDIA
Panel
Criminal Law
Title
Mediation in Juvenile Justice in India and the Asian experience: Exploring the Best Practices
Abstract
Mediation in Juvenile Justice in India and the Asian experience: Exploring the Best Practices Nobody is a born criminal and The Juvenile Justice (Care and protection of Children) Act, 2015 incorporates the same philosophy as it emphasizes reformation, reintegration and rehabilitation rather than punitive and retributive justice. The restorative justice approach is well entrenched in its objectives, the preamble, the procedural mechanism, the core principles and the envisaged outcomes. Yet, when it comes to the implementation of restorative justice principles because of lack of clear statutory provisions mandating it, a large number of children in conflict with law as well as victims of crime are not able to reap its benefits as it depends on the discretion of the concerned officials that whether they will adopt restorative method to handle a particular case. There is lot of variation among different states in India in adopting restorative justice methods. To humanize justice, for the victim as well as the offender it is very important that restorative practices like Victim Offender Mediation become the norm rather than an exception. It will give sense of fairness, peace, stability and closure to both the parties. Criminological theories too emphasise reformation, rehabilitation, reintegration, rebuilding social bonds, reconciliation, reparation, accountability, responsibility and non-stigmatic semantics. The concept is not new to India. Nyaya panchayats, one of the oldest forms of restorative justice focused on reconciliation, community consensus, harmony and restitution. It aligns with VOM or community circle of modern world.. Victim Offender Mediation is practiced in many Asian countries like China, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore. This paper examines the need and practice of VOM in India. It explores the implementation of VOM in Asian countries like China, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore to know and learn from their best practices.
Biography
Prof. (Dr.) Awekta Verma Verma I am a full-time Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Delhi. I have 20 years of teaching experience as a Law teacher for LL.B. and LL.M. courses. I have taught criminal law, criminology, a seminar course on juvenile delinquency, a seminar course on socio-economic offences, and the law of torts at the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, and later at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. My research areas are Capital punishment, Legal Aid, Juvenile delinquency, ADR, and Disaster Management Law. I have written numerous research papers and presented at international and national conferences in these areas. As a convener of Legal Aid Cell in Law Centre-I, I have been involved in guiding, involving, and supervising students while extending legal services to the needy. The Law Centre-I Legal Services Clinic won the Best Clinic Award 2018 [GNLU (Gujarat National Law University) Legal Services Award]. Presently, I am the convener of the Enabling Unit at Law Centre-I, and its primary function is to ensure equitable access to institutional resources for differently abled students in the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. I am a trained Mediator accredited by the Delhi Dispute Resolution Society (DDRS).
