THE SOCIO-LEGAL IMPACT OF DEATH PENALTY FOR JUVENILES

Abstract

It is no secret that Indian does not permit, explicitly ,death penalty for juveniles , and emphasis is majorly put on such decisions by western countries such as the USA, as was held in Roper v. Simmons, or countries which permit death penalty for juveniles such as the amalgamation of the Middle Eastern countries but when the conversation extends to the status of said juveniles, exclusively in a liberal democracy , that is , in the Indian context , few analyze the root of the problem , the Evaluation Boards that determine their fate and the efficiency of the system that governs the section of the society that has fallen victim to its circumstance, and whether the true aim of death penalty is actually fulfilled, i.e , deterrence [ while statistics show a rising rate of juvenile crime and rapes in spite of said measures.] The paper shall deal with juveniles in the strictest sense, i.e juveniles who are convicted of heinous crimes, with a special emphasis on the Nirbhaya case , and whether the age of 18 is just an arbitrary rule, and the procedure when juveniles who show the same mental tendencies of a fully grown adult and the implications of them being subject to the same punishment as them, i.e the death penalty ,as were the other assailants in the aforementioned Nirbhaya case.in a physiological and sociological basis As mentioned, the impact of such a penalty will be analyzed, keeping in mind the custom, law and practice in India and laws of various other countries, assessing rates of efficiency to come up with an amicable solution to curb juvenile crime.