President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday expressed his concern over the rise in cases of sexual abuses against children in the country and urged for implementation of proper laws and creating more awareness among the public to prevent such crime.
Mukherjee said this while inaugurating the closing ceremony of golden jubilee celebration of Bar Council of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim in Guwahati. Referring to shocking statistics of 8,541 cases of minor rapes in the country last year alone, the President said that it was these shocking statistics that forced the Government to put in place the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012.
“The POCSO was put in place as there was a need for a strong system to protect children from sexual abuse across the country,” he said adding that it is necessary considering the fact that India is home to the largest child population in the world and more than one-third of country’s population is under 18 years of age. “This Act (POCSO) has now been in place for over a year and even in this short period, several implementation challenges have emerged,” he pointed out and said that these challenges needed to be addressed urgently in order to make the legislation truly effective.
The president also suggested urgent need for more awareness of POCSO more among the adults, parents, caregivers, teachers and people in position of authority. “Service providers at all levels also need to be sensitised and their capacities built,” he said adding that the Bar councils can richly contribute to strengthening implementation of this legislation and ensuring the operation of an effective, just, child sensitive juvenile justice system,” the President said.
Mukherjee also laid stress on the need for reform in the country’s judicial system and added that the process of reform must begin with an assessment of the country’s needs that the legal profession seeks to fulfil. “Our approach to reform must be guided by a thorough understanding of current shortcomings and future needs of the system.
Historically, the focus of judicial reform has been the judiciary. The lawyer — a basic pillar of the judicial system has often been ignored,” he said adding that continuing legal education and professional development must create a socially sensitive lawyer of conscience, for whom justice delayed is not a commercial opportunity but a blemish on one’s professional persona and a failure of the system of which one is an integral part.
He also, explaining the various judicial reforms in the country, said that continuing legal education centres such as judicial academies be set up for enabling judges keep abreast with emerging areas of law, such as cyber laws, intellectual property matters, matters pertaining to computer and internet etc.