Justice is not a privilege but a right for every child: Justice Savitri Ratho

Justice is not a privilege but a right for every child, said Orissa High Court Judge Justice Savitri Ratho.

Speaking at the 5th World Congress on Justice with Children that took place earlier this week in Madrid, Justice Ratho said, "Justice is not a privilege to be earned; it is a promise to be kept for every child," underscoring the need for trauma-informed processes and regular monitoring under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015.

The event, which was hosted by Child Rights and You (CRY), Centre of Child Rights (CCR), and the National Law University Odisha (NLUO), was attended by participants and speakers from around the world.

This year's theme was 'Advancing Child-Centred Justice: Preventing and Responding to Violence Affecting Children in Justice Systems.'

The panel discussion, in which Justice Savitri Ratho spoke included distinguished practitioners and experts in the field, including Justice Madan Bhimarao Lokur, Chairperson of the United Nations’ Internal Justice Council and former Judge of the Supreme Court of India; Shubha Sarma, IAS, the Principal Secretary of the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Odisha; Prof Ved Kumari, Vice Chancellor, NLUO and Patron-in-Chief, Centre for Child Rights; Sonal Kapoor, Founder-CEO of Protsahan India Foundation; Prof Rangin Pallav Tripathy, Professor of Law cum Registrar of NLUO, Prof Ved Kumari, Vice Chancellor or NLUO and Patron-in-chief of CCR and Subhendu Bhattacharjee, Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange, CRY.

The World Congress on Justice with Children is a global platform that convenes every five years to further the policy, practice and discourse on child-centred justice. It comprises of institutions and individuals championing the cause of children’s access to justice and child rights, i.e. the United Nations’ nodal agencies like UNICEF, UNODC etc, global, regional and national civil society organisations like Terre Des Hommes, Penal Reforms International etc, academics, members of the judiciary around the world and national governments and most importantly the children and youth, who are at the centre of this global conversation.