Respite for children

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Offline Talukdar Rasel Mahmud

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Respite for children
« on: April 07, 2015, 03:00:05 PM »
In Bangladesh we had the Children Act, 1974 to ensure the rights of the children and to regulate the treatment towards them. With the passage of time the law became obsolete and society felt the need of an up-to-date legislation.  Moreover, Bangladesh signed the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989 and has become pledge bound to enact a national legislation to suit with the international convention.
With a view to implementing the CRC convention, Bangladesh has enacted The Children Act, 2013, in its 9th Parliament last year. The move was appreciated by all. However, due to lack of exposure and social awareness, the law is little known among the masses.
Here are some of the basic features of the newly enacted Children Act, 2013.
Age of a child
The new law defines a child as a person under the age of 18 years, which is internationally accepted age limit for a child. In the previous legislation a child was defined as a person under the age of 16 years. This is a very important development because discrepancy in the age of a child in different laws may entail many legal and judicial complications.
Child Welfare Board
According to the new law, a “Child Welfare Board” will be constituted at the national level with its chapter at district and upazila levels. The functions of the national and upazila child welfare boards are to reintegrate the children with the family and the society who are deprived of or tangled into judicial process.
Help desk for children in police stations
The new law requires that every police station of the country have a help desk for children under the supervision of an officer not lower than the rank of a sub-inspector. This dedicated help desk will handle issues where children are involved.
Juvenile court in every district
According to the new law, a juvenile court will have to be established in every district or metropolitan area to deal with the cases in connection with children. While adjudicating a child, the court must take into account the age, sex, mental, and physical condition, family and life-style, economic condition etc of the child concerned.
Arrest of children
According to the law, whatever be the allegation against him/her, the police must not arrest a child who is under nine years of age. A child aged above nine may be arrested, but the law enforcers cannot use handcuffs or ropes.
Restriction on awarding certain punishments
If a child is proven to be guilty of an offence under any law, he/she must not be given death sentence or life imprisonment. Under exceptional circumstances, where the child is convicted of offence of any heinous nature, and the authority feels that the correction centres or safe homes are not appropriate for him/her, they may be given imprisonment which should not exceed the maximum period of imprisonment provided for the offence.

See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/juris/2014/feb/05/respite-children
Talukdar Rasel Mahmud
Lecturer, Department of Law
Daffodil International University (DIU)
Contact No:+88 01719 479603.

Offline abduarif

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Re: Respite for children
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2015, 10:10:41 AM »
We need to put these things into practice otherwise the law would not bring any change in the scenario.
Abdullah Al Arif
Lecturer
Department of Law
Daffodil International University
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Offline Talukdar Rasel Mahmud

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Re: Respite for children
« Reply #2 on: April 10, 2015, 11:22:33 AM »
Surely we need proper implementation of these laws for ensuring justice in our society & the Authority should be more sincere regarding this.
Talukdar Rasel Mahmud
Lecturer, Department of Law
Daffodil International University (DIU)
Contact No:+88 01719 479603.