Pakistan: Protection of juveniles in the criminal justice system remains inadequate

Index Number: ASA 33/021/2005
Date Published: 30 September 2005
Categories: Asia And The Pacific, Pakistan

The Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) was revoked by the Lahore High Court in December 2004. The report looks at how the JJSO was implemented. Ratification of the CRC and passing of the JJSO were major landmarks but its implementation has been slow and partial. Courts continued to impose heavy sentences. Conditions of detention, particularly for girl prisoners remained inadequate. A special focus of the report is the death penalty for juveniles which Amnesty International hopes will be permanently abolished in law and practice. The report concludes with a set of recommendations for more effective implementation of the JJSO.