An arbitrary cutoff (The Indian Express; 23/12/2015)

The article states that mental capacity and not age should be the determinant for trying
juvenilesasadults

FundamentalPremiseofthejuvenilelaw

Juvenile A person who lacks

mental maturity and understanding to know the nature and
consequencesofhisactions.
Thus,a juvenileshouldnot be tried inthe criminalcourtandshouldbe sentto acorrectional
homeforreformandrehabilitation.

Argumentforshowingthattheunamendedjuvenilelawwasunconstitutional

A criminal court could not try ajuvenile(personbelow18 years of age)forcommitting an

offenceevenwhentheaccusedjuvenilewaswellawareofthenatureofthecrimecommitted.
Thus, a person below the age of 18 years could commit any offence he wanted, however
heinous,withoutfearofbeingprosecuted,triedorpunished.
A person capable of committing heinous crimes like rape, sodomy, inhuman torture and
murder hasthementalcapacity tounderstand thenatureandconsequencesofthe crime,even
ifhe/sheisbelow18yearsofage.
But as pertheunamendedlaw,ajuvenilecommittingheinouscrimescouldatbest,havebeen
subjected to a childfriendly inquiry bya Juvenile JusticeBoard(asdistinct froma court in
termsoffunction, characterand composition) andkeptfora maximumperiod of threeyears
inacorrectionalhome.
The judiciary is entitled to try a person committing a penal offence and award a sentence
basedonanumberoffactorsincludingnatureandseriousnessofthecrime.
Furthermore, an assessment of whether the accused has attained sufficient maturity to
understand the natureandconsequencesofhisactions is ajudicialfunction tobeperformed
bythecourtwiththehelpoftheexperts.


Accordingto precedentsin which theSupreme court,theParliamentcannotmakealawthat
undermines the judicial functionof the courtsorajudicialdiscretionthatfallsintheambitof
judicialfunction.
Therefore, the unamended juvenile law undermined the judicial function of the court in
assessing whetherthejuvenileoffender hadthematurityandunderstandingofthe seriousness
ofhisconduct.
Hence,itwasunconstitutional.

Willtheamendedjuvenilelawservethepurpose?

Theamendedlawsuffersfromthesameflawnowinsteadofprotectinganoffenderbelow18
yearsofage,itwouldnowprotectthejuvenileoffenderbelow16yearsofage.
The determinant which has continually been overlooked is the mental capacity. Various
studieshaveindicatedthatdifferentpersonshavevaryingmentaldevelopment.
Thus,ageshouldnotbeadeterminant.
Furthermore,conferringthepowers todetermine thementalcapacityoftheoffender between
1618yearsofagetotheboardinsteadofcourtunderminesjudicialdiscretion.

Conclusion
The amended law might render injustice as happened in the Nirbhaya case. Many juveniles
committingheinouscrimesmightwalkawayfree.

Question
The debateragingaround theamendedjuvenile law can be saidtofocusononecritical aspect:
isitthe age or thementalcapacitythat shouldbethedeterminantforawarding thesentenceto
theoffender.Criticallyevaluate.(200words)

SuggestedPoints:
1. IntroductionMajoramendmentsinthejuvenilelaw.eg.loweringtheageto16.
2. Mentalcapacityvsage.
3. Conclusion: We should not find ourselves at the samejuncture, i.e. thenew lawshouldnot
prove ineffectivewhentheoffendersbelow16yearsofageareabletowalkawayfreeinspite
ofcommittingheinouscrimes.

Link:
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/anarbitrarycutoff/#sthash.WrS2yRxR.dpuf
Source:TheIndianExpress
Author:AmanHingorani
Compiledby:SuperProfsAcadsTeam

The global reversal of fortunes (The Financial Express;23/12/2015)

Thearticlehaspresentedthecurrentglobaleconomicscenarioandcomparedtheconditionsin
developedandemergingeconomies.

Post globalfinancial crisisoccurred,itwaslargely believedthattheemerging marketswould

leave the developed economies behind and take the primary position as the emerging
economies remained insulated from the U.S financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis of
Europe.
Butsevenyearssincethecrisis,thescenarioisquitedifferenttotheonethatwasthought.
Growthis being observedin the developedeconomies USissettoincreasetheinterest rates
and unemploymentratehasreduced.InEU,Greece crisis hasrecededandtheeconomiesare
experiencinggrowthatdifferentpaces.
However, China, Brazil, South Africa haveslowed downandRussian economy isin chaos.
Indian economy is stable but given its domestic orientation, it doesnt mattermuchforthe
globaleconomy.

Developedeconomiesvsdevelopedeconomiesinthecurrenteconomicenvironment.

Factor

Developednations

Developingnations

Globaltrade

Pressure on them has caused Their exports have been

slowdowninglobaltrade
impacted due to noncreation
of own trading circles and
dependenceonU.S.

Inflation

Remainedlow

Lower oil prices have helped,

but domestic factors have
increased inflation,esp.on the
supplyside.

Some countries have high

inflation China and Russia,

while others have moderate,

but higher than that of the
developedeconomies.
Flowofforeigninvestment

Foreign investment that had

flowedout fromtheU.S inthe
last 56 years is flowing into
USagain.
The prospect of rate hike by
the Fed has caused this asUS
economyisin bettershapeand
presents greater business
opportunity.

Foreign institutional investor Stronger

economy
strengthened
dollar
(FII)flows
lessenedoutflows.

Debt

Since
July, they
are
experiencing outflow of
foreigninvestment.

Situation where US would

increase interest rates and
central banks in emerging
markets would lower them,
along
with
currency
depreciation will causeforeign
investorsto withdrawfrom the
emergingeconomies.

Balance of payments has been

disturbedinmanyeconomies.

It appears that the stock

markets here are inescapable
fromUSstockindices.

has Currency depreciation has

and increased volatility. (Brazil,
Malaysia, Turkey and South
Africa
have
witnessed
significantly higher rates of
depreciation.

DebttoGDPratiohaslowered Leverage of companies has

for the economies who have increased, thereby increasing
goneforconsolidation.
debttoGDPratios.

External debt will increase

mainly due to companies
borrowing from the euro
markets where rates are very
low, debt service would
become expensive on account
ofcurrencydepreciation.

Debt crisis is a possibility

when GDP growth is low,
interest rates remain high with
extendeddebtlevels.

Fiscalbalances

Moderation
observed Notshown
(especially intheeurozoneasa
partoftheausteritymeasures)

Conclusion:
Thesouthsouth dialoguethatwas enthusiasticallybeenfollowedforsometimehasnotresultedinthe
developing economies creating a decoupled environment to grow on a sustained and mutual basis.
The stages of development and core competencies among these economies varies widely, hence
creatinganalternativeecosystemisdifficult.

Link:
http://www.financialexpress.com/article/fecolumnist/theglobalreversaloffortunes/182760/
Source:TheFinancialExpress
Author:MadanSabnavis
Compiledby:SuperProfsAcadsTeam