The Supreme Court of India is set to begin a two-day national consultation reviewing ten years of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, with discussions focused on the progress made under the law, continuing implementation challenges and the future of child protection in the country.
The National Annual Stakeholders Consultation, titled “Ten Years of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015: Progress, Challenges and Priorities for the Next Decade,” will be held on October 10 and 11 at the Supreme Court’s Auditorium in the C-Block Administrative Buildings Complex in New Delhi.
Editorial Insight
Key Highlights
Important points readers should notice.
Issue/Event: National consultation reviewing ten years of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
Location: Supreme Court of India, New Delhi.
Authority/Organisation: Supreme Court Juvenile Justice Committee in association with UNICEF.
Action Taken: Two-day stakeholder consultation scheduled for October 10–11, 2026, to assess progress, implementation challenges and priorities for the next decade.
Impact: Expected to inform discussions on child-friendly justice, adoption, institutional care, rehabilitation and coordination across States and Union Territories.
The Supreme Court’s Juvenile Justice Committee is organising the event in association with UNICEF. Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant is scheduled to inaugurate the consultation, which will bring together Supreme Court and High Court judges, senior government officials, child protection specialists and representatives of organisations working for children’s welfare.
The exercise comes at a significant point for India’s juvenile justice framework. A decade-long review provides an opportunity to look beyond the provisions of the law and examine how effectively its safeguards operate in practice, including whether children receive timely decisions, appropriate care and meaningful opportunities for rehabilitation.
Focus on children in conflict with the law
Editorial Analysis
Why This Matters
The effectiveness of child protection legislation depends not only on the law itself but also on how consistently it is implemented. Delays, gaps in coordination and differences in institutional capacity can affect whether children receive timely care and appropriate legal protection. The consultation creates a forum for judicial, administrative and child protection stakeholders to examine these issues together. Its longer-term value will depend on whether the discussions lead to practical improvements in implementation and outcomes for children.
One of the major subjects for discussion will be the rights of children in conflict with the law. The consultation will examine issues connected with the preliminary assessment undertaken by Juvenile Justice Boards in cases involving alleged heinous offences.
Such assessments are an important part of the statutory framework for determining how certain cases involving children aged 16 to 18 are handled. The process requires careful consideration of the law and the individual circumstances of the child. It is distinct from automatically treating every child accused of a serious offence as an adult.
The discussions are expected to consider how the relevant legal framework is implemented and how decision-making can remain consistent with the principles of juvenile justice and child-sensitive procedures.
Adoption, vulnerable children and rehabilitation
The consultation will also address adoption procedures, care and protection for vulnerable children, institutional care and rehabilitation. These areas involve several institutions and authorities, making coordination and consistent implementation important to the outcomes experienced by children.
The wider challenge is to ensure that the system does not focus solely on legal proceedings or placement in institutions. Protection, care, rehabilitation and reintegration are also important elements of the framework.
Participants will discuss opportunities to strengthen institutional coordination, improve child-friendly justice mechanisms and promote the rehabilitation and reintegration of children.
States and Union Territories to share implementation experiences
Dedicated technical sessions will examine how the Act is being implemented across States and Union Territories. Representatives from Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Delhi, Gujarat, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal are scheduled to share their experiences and perspectives.
The exchange is intended to help identify implementation challenges, highlight practices that may be useful in other jurisdictions and inform priorities for the next decade.
The inaugural session will include opening remarks from Supreme Court Justice B. V. Nagarathna, who chairs the Juvenile Justice Committee, followed by introductory remarks from UNICEF India Country Representative Cynthia McCaffrey.
A compendium of landmark Supreme Court and High Court judgments relating to the Juvenile Justice Act, covering the period from 2015 to September 2026, is also scheduled to be released by the Chief Justice of India.
The consultation will conclude on October 11. The closing session is scheduled to feature remarks from UNICEF India Chief of Child Protection Milen Kidane, an address by Anil Malik, Secretary of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, and closing remarks by Supreme Court Justice J. B. Pardiwala.
The discussions are expected to help shape priorities for the coming decade. Their practical significance will depend on how identified challenges translate into stronger implementation, better coordination and improved protection and rehabilitation outcomes for children.
