PESHAWAR, Oct 2: The extension of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO), 2000, to the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) last year has proved to be a futile exercise as no step has been taken for its implementation.

Legal experts dealing with cases of juvenile offenders told Dawn that the federal government had not made amendments in the JJSO before its extension to Fata and there were various provisions of the law which were not applicable to those areas.

The president of Pakistan had extended the ordinance to Fata through an order issued on Nov 6, 2004. The said SRO appeared in the official gazette on Nov 22, 2004.

Under Article 247 of the Constitution no law is applicable to the Fata unless the President of Pakistan issued specific directives in that regard.

After hectic campaigns by different human and child rights organizations, including the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) and the Amnesty International, the President had extended the law to Fata. The ordinance was promulgated for the rest of the country on July 1, 2000, by the then President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar during the military rule.

The law envisages establishment of juvenile courts for dealing exclusively with cases of juvenile offenders. Under the law either the provincial government is empowered to establish juvenile courts for any local area or the high court may confer powers of juvenile courts on court of sessions or judicial magistrate.

“How can juvenile courts be established in Fata when neither the provincial government nor the high court can exercise any power in Fata?” asked Noor Alam Khan, the chairman of the Voice of Prisoners, an organization dealing with cases of juveniles and destitute women.

He said that the federal government had extended the law without any proper homework and without making appropriate changes in the JJSO for the Fata.

Mr Khan pointed out that an important role was assigned to the probation and reclamation department in the JJSO but the said department was non-existent in Fata. Moreover, he added that the sections regarding the police force were also not applicable to Fata.

Another counsel dealing with cases under the Frontier Crimes Regulations, Jamrooz Khan Afridi, informed that juvenile offenders were still being treated under the FCR in sheer violation of the JJSO.

“In various cases juvenile offenders were arrested under the oppressive provisions of the FCR dealing with territorial and collective responsibility,” Mr Afridi pointed out.

He stated that in the Fata political agents and assistant political agents had been serving as administrative as well as judicial officers in clear violation of the constitution, which guaranteed separation of the judiciary from the executive.