Dimapur, July 21: The Kohima District Legal Services Authority as a part of the action plan for the month of July 2016 had visited the Observation Home, Kohima and interacted with the officials and Juveniles.
Akumla Longchari, Legal Aid Counsel for JJB KDLSA chaired the program and opened by sharing that ‘we are paying a visit to interact with them’. She said that that ‘we are all part of the justice delivery system, we all as stakeholders need to work together.’
The welcome address was given by Esther Nakhro superintendent Observation Home, Kohima where she added that the Kohima District Legal Services Authority has always been there whenever they needed any help.
She shared about some Do’s and Don’ts and also said that running the Observation Home is a big challenge as most of the juveniles brought to the home having history of broken homes and substance abuse. She proposed that they also need the help of KDLSA to sensitize the officials of the various homes in Kohima so that work can be done more effectively.Joshua Sheqi Retainer lawyer KDLSA spoke on an overview of new juvenile justice act and that there are some pertinent points that we need to know. He added that the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of children Act 2015 has been passed by the parliament of India. The Act came into force in January 2016. The bill will allow a Juvenile justice board which would include psychology and sociology to decide whether a juvenile criminal in the age group 16-18 should be tried as an adult or not. He also added that there were ten important points one need to know about the new bill wherein it included the bill mandates setting up Juvenile Justice Board and child welfare committees in every district. Each committee will have a chairperson and four other members all specialists in matters relating to children. The proposal law aims at adjudicating and disposing cases dealing with Juveniles keeping in mind “the best interest of the children and their rehabilitation”.
Short speech was given by Mezivolu T. Therieh Chief judicial Magistrate & Secretary KDLSA, where she spoke about providing help and services to the people without any barriers be it church organizations, NGOs and even Juveniles. She said that legal service has been provided to women and children free of charge. She encouraged the Juvenile by saying that they still have hope and a chance to be a better person as children below the years of 18 can be corrected and restored because their brain have not been fully developed yet.
However, she said that unless they have the will power and decide to change, they cannot become a better person. The program ended with interaction with the management where they shared their experiences.
