Children not to be tried in regular courtroom: CJ

Chief Justice SK Sinha has directed district judges to ensure that trials of accused children were held at simple courtrooms of children’s courts with no docks, witness boxes and red-cloth to separate judges’ seats. 
Until child-friendly courtrooms are made, judges of children’s courts have been directed to hold trials in their chambers or in courtrooms keeping witness boxes and red-cloth covered by curtains.
The Chief justice issued the directives on February 22.
The Chief Justice issued the directives after the Supreme Court’s Special Committee for Child Rights brought to his notice that docks, witness boxes and the red-cloth separating judges’ seats had not been removed from the children’s courts as the Children Act 2013 requires.
The Chief Justice also directed the children’s court to strictly follow all the stipulations in the Children Act. 
During court proceedings, the Children Act also forbids judges and lawyers to wear their gowns.
The law also requires the police and the court orderlies not to wear their uniforms during the trials of accused children. 
The law requires establishment of waiting rooms for accused children close to the court rooms so that they could keep seated during recess as well as before and after the trial proceedings. 
In the court rooms sitting arrangements for the accused children should be arranged in a manner so that they could easily contact with their parent, guardians and lawyers.
The law requires that the children’s court rooms must be away from the court that try adult offenders. 
The trial hours of child accused and adult offenders 
should also be different, says the law. 
The accused children should be exempted from court appearances if their presence were not essential. 
Children’s trials should be conducted by additional district and sessions judges and when they are not available district and sessions judges should hold their trials, says the law.

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