ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY Children above 15 years but below 18 years of age who acted without discernment shall be exempt

t from criminal liability and be subjected to intervention programs under R.A. 9344.

In September 2005, it was estimated that over 4,000 children were in jails and detention centers all over the country alongside adults. Other estimates ran as high as 20,000 children jailed. The international backlash reportedly prompted lawmakers to hasten the drafting and approval of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act in 2006. 1The criminality among youth offender are main issues we are facing right now. The criminality of youth gives significant meaning after the passage of Republic Act 9344.2A child above fifteen (15) years but below eighteen (18) years of age shall likewise be exempt from criminal liability and subject to an intervention program, unless he/she has acted with discernment, in which case, such child shall be subjected to the appropriate proceedings in accordance with this act.3 This is the basic premise of the youth offender and juvenile delinquent to be rehabilitated in order to correct their mistakes and to change for the better to be useful in the society. The legal term juvenile delinquent was established so that young lawbreakers could avoid the disgrace of being classified in legal records as criminals. Juvenile delinquency laws were designed to provide treatment, rather than punishment, for juvenile offenders. Young delinquents usually are sent to juvenile courts, where the main aim is to rehabilitate offenders, rather than to punish them. But the term juvenile delinquency itself has come to imply disgrace in today's society. A youngster can be labeled a delinquent for breaking any one of a number of laws, ranging from robbery to running away from home. 4But under R.A. 9244 the offender are called Child in Conflict with the Law (CICL). In the conduct of the investigation the authority the social worker in the interview process can determine whether he/she acted with discernment or not in the commission of the crime. The CICL will be exempt from criminal liability if acted without discernment subject to intervention and rehabilitation. In is the good thing and
1

http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/09/15/child-rights-advocacy-groups-call-for-improvement-in-efforts-toprotect-children-in-conflict-with-the-law/ 19 September 2011 2 Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 3 Section 6 Paragraph 2 Juvenile Justice 4 Hpps://www.dreamessay.com

innovation that created this law in order to give chance for the youth to change. Gabriela Womens Party drafted its original proposal in consonance with the provision of the United Nations (UN) Convention on Rights of the Child, the UN Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency also known as the Riyadh Guidelines, and the Beijing Rules adopted by the United Nations in 1985 What we want is to emphasize and advance the efforts toward rehabilitating and reintegrating juvenile offenders into the mainstream of society as productive citizens in contrast to the punitive approach to offenses committed by children,Largoza-Maza said.5Indeed with this law R.A. 9344 giving second chance to those youth who committed the crime give significance of the famous quotation that The Youth is the hope of our Nation.

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