Analysing the implementation of child protection laws in India

There is a lack of comprehensive, data-based analysis concerning judicial information on child labor, child marriage, and crimes against children under the JJ Act. The existing Crime in India report by the NCRB is insufficient since it only provides limited indicators at the state level. Moreover, information regarding specific offenses under these laws, court processing time for cases, victim testimonies, the number of effective hearings, and the factors influencing conviction and acquittal in such cases is not publicly available. Additionally, there is a gap in data regarding the utilization of these laws, who is utilizing them, and for what purposes they are being used.

We undertook an exploratory study to generate more evidence on how these special laws are being applied by the judiciary and to understand their effectiveness in advancing children’s rights. For this study we have analysed the cases registered under these acts across the various districts courts in the country.

The reports released as part of this project are as follows:

The first report titled - Decoding data on Implementation of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 is based on an analysis of 10,800 ongoing and disposed cases available on eCourts from 6 States - Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. It also includes the analysis of 142 judgments from Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu, and Assam, between January 2015 - early 2023.

The second report titled Trends in Child Marriage is based on the analysis of 174 judgements under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 from Assam, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu between January 2015 and January 2023.

We had the privilege of having Prof. Mahesh Menon and Ms. Bharti Ali as project advisors.

This project is generously funded by the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation through the Data and Society Accelerator Program.