Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act: Need for Structured Standards and Institutional Capacity

Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 introduces a preliminary assessment mechanism to determine whether children aged between 16 and 18 years accused of heinous offences should be subjected to adult criminal trial. While the provision seeks to reconcile the reformative philosophy of juvenile justice with the demands of accountability in serious offences, it suffers from significant structural and conceptual deficiencies. This paper critically examines the absence of clearly defined statutory standards and scientifically grounded criteria for assessing a child's mental and psychological capacity under Section 15. The lack of mandatory psychological expertise, standardized evaluative tools, and procedural uniformity grants excessive discretion to Juvenile Justice Boards, resulting in inconsistent and potentially arbitrary outcomes. Drawing upon psychological research on adolescent cognitive development, judicial observations, and philosophical theories of moral responsibility and state authority, this paper argues that the existing framework lacks the institutional and conceptual safeguards necessary to justify differential criminal treatment of minors. It contends that the legitimacy of transferring juveniles to adult criminal jurisdiction depends upon the existence of structured, evidence-based, and professionally informed assessment mechanisms. The paper concludes that meaningful reform requires the incorporation of standardized psychological evaluation protocols, mandatory involvement of qualified experts, and strengthened institutional capacity to ensure procedural fairness, consistency, and ethical integrity within the juvenile justice system.