Rationale, Objectives,
& Expected Outcomes
Rationale and Strategic Purpose
This Programme responds to a clearly identified need: building the capacity of the child rights community to critically engage with the most pressing debates in child justice and child protection law, while also developing practical skills in research, advocacy, and litigation.
The Programme has been designed to serve a dual purpose. First, it creates a space for rigorous intellectual exchange on the most contested and consequential questions in Indian child rights law, drawing on international comparative experience. Second, it functions as a practical skills laboratory, offering participants experiential learning opportunities rooted in real-world child justice scenarios.
By connecting Indian practitioners and scholars with international experts through ICJA’s global network, the Programme contributes to ICJA’s broader mission of linking national justice diagnostics to global knowledge frameworks. India’s experience with the JJ Act and POCSO holds significant comparative value for the global justice reform community, and this Programme creates a vehicle for capturing and disseminating those insights internationally.
Objectives
The Programme is designed to achieve the following objectives:
Deepen participants’ understanding of the legal frameworks governing child justice and child protection in India, with particular focus on emerging debates and implementation challenges.
Strengthen practical skills in child rights research, evidence-based advocacy, and child-sensitive legal representation.
Foster comparative learning through dialogue with international experts in child justice.
Build a network of informed child rights practitioners, researchers, and advocates committed to advancing reform in India through the NLUD Chair on Justice for Children (in collaboration with UNICEF).
Contribute to the body of knowledge available to the global child justice community.
Strengthen public-private partnerships in the delivery of child justice, including through pro bono legal support and the engagement of the private legal sector in access to justice initiatives.
Expected Outcomes
Enhanced knowledge of current debates in child rights law and policy among a cohort of Indian legal practitioners and researchers
Improved skills in conducting child rights research and advocacy, including child-sensitive approaches to investigation and representation
Strengthened international collaboration and networking between Indian child rights professionals
A shared commitment to advancing child rights agendas in diverse national and international contexts