Upon the invitation of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Symbiosis Law School, Pune, a constituent of Symbiosis International (Deemed University) is hosting a Round — Table discussion on “Draft Guidelines for Conducting Preliminary Assessment under Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015”. The event is scheduled on 16th January 2023 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM IST.The event shall provide an important academic forum to brainstorm and synthesize upon procedural understanding of the aspects of trial and punishment in critical cases involving juveniles.
The Round Table commemorations will be done under the leadership of Prof. (Dr.) Shashikala Gurpur, Fulbright Scholar, Director, Symbiosis Law School, Pune, Dean, Faculty of Law, SIU, Jean Monnet Chair Professor (EUC — LAMP co-funded by EU). Dr. Gurpur shall be deliveringthe welcome address which will be followed by a discussion on general principles and a brief introduction of the theme.
The welcome address will be followed by Session I that will commence with a discussion byand august presence ofDr. (Mrs.) Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi, Former High Court Judge, who shall be discussing the “General Principles” regarding preliminary assessment with main focus on Principles of Presumption of Innocence, Participation, Safety and Natural Justice.
Dr. Asha Bajpai, Professor, School of Law, Rights and Constitutional Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai will deliberate upon“Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act- Challenges and Need of Change”.
Dr. Sheila Ramaswamy, Technical & Operational Lead, SAMVAD, will illustrate on the Nature and Purpose of and Challenges with respect to the ‘Aim of conducting preliminary assessment',‘Physical and mental Capacity of the child to commit offence', ‘Circumstances in which the child committed the offence’ and ‘Ability to understand the consequence of the offence'.
Dr. Harish Shetty, esteemed Psychiatristshall provide on ‘Insights and Role of Experts in Preliminary Assessment of Juvenile, Consequences and Challenges'.Dr. Jaya Sagade, Scholar in Child Rights,shall address the panel regarding‘Challenges in Preliminary Assessment of Juvenile'.
Session II shall begin with Adv. Shirin Merchant, Senior Advocate, Pune,who will brief about the ‘Procedure to be followed and precautions', which will include the Social Investigation Report, Social Background Report, Individual Care Plan, Witness report by CWPO, Interaction and Appeals.
Sister Lucy will enumerate and appraise the Role of NGOs.
Dr.Swarupa, Secretary, State Human Rights Commission and Adv. Chaitraly Deshmukh, Journalist and PhD Scholar in Child Rightswill be delivering a brief session on‘How to prepare a Report'. Both the sessions shall be followed by a quick bout of discussion and a solemn conclusion to the event.
The proceedings and recommendations of the discussion shall be submitted to the NCPCR.
Date of Event: 16th January, 2023
Timings: 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.
Venue: Conference Hall, Symbiosis Law School, Pune.
