Postgraduate Diploma inChild Rights Law(PGDCRL)

This paper introduces the student to legal thinking and reasoning, and to legal systems, with a particular focus on Indian law and the Indian legal system. Those students who are from a non-law background would find this course particularly helpful.

This paper consists of the following modules:

Module 1: Children in India: A Profile

• Age and Gender
• Rural and Urban divide
• Child Sex Ratio
• Issues and Challenges Faced by Children in India

Module 2: Understanding Child Rights

• Who is a Child?
• Notion of Human Rights and Child Rights
• Philosophical issues on Child Rights
• Some key concepts pertaining to Child Rights
• Role of State, Parents and Children within a rights framework

Module 3 : International Law pertaining to Children 

• Introduction
• History of Child Rights and United Nations Convention on Rights of Child (UNCRC)
• Monitoring of Child Rights
• Optional Protocols to UNCRC and other International Treaties related to children
• Other International Treaties

Module 4: A Children’s-rights based approach

• Introduction to the Rights Based Approach and implications for work with children
• Core and General Principles of the Rights Based Approach
• Children’s right to be heard and the Rights Based Approach
• Application of the Rights Based Approach while engaging with children

Module 5: Constitutional safeguards for children 

• Constitutional rights of children
• Landmark constitutional cases related to children

Module 6: National Policies and Plans of Action

• Introduction
• National Policy for Children, 1974
• National Plan of Action for Children (NPAC), 1992 and 2005
• National Policy for Children, 2013
• National Plan of Action for Children (NPAC), 2016
• National Policy for Early Childhood Care and Education, 2013
• National Education Policy, 2020

Module 7 : Parastatal Institutions and Commissions for Children 

• National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
• State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR)
• Human Rights Institutions for children
• National and State Human Rights Commissions
• National Commission for Women (NCW)
• State Food Commissions

Module 8 : Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Child Rights

• The Multi-Disciplinary Approach and its value in enabling effective engagement with matters concerning children and their rights
• Opportunities for Multidisciplinary work with children in India
• Ethical dilemmas and challenges faced while engaging with the multidisciplinary approach
• Moving from Multidisciplinarity towards Interdisciplinarity

This paper consists of the following modules:

Module 1: Policies, Programmes and Legislations on food and nutrition 

• What is Right to Food-A conceptual understanding
• Right to Food and Nutrition in India: A Situational Analysis
• International Legal Framework governing Food and Nutrition
• Constitutional Provisions and milestone case laws on right to food
• Policies and programmes on Right to Food and Nutrition in India
• A critical analysis of the National Food Security Act, 2013
• Contemporary issues in the context of Food Security (Including climate change, fortification, digitization, food safety, etc)

Module 2: Policies, Programmes and Legislation on Right to Education 

• Right to Education-A conceptual understanding
• Normative Framework for Right to Education
• Constitutional Provisions and milestone case laws on right to education
• A critical analysis of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act
• New Education Policy- A critical perspective
• Emerging issues and challenges
• Child rights issues-Intersectionality and overlapping issues

Module 3: Policies, Programmes and legislation on Right to Health     

• Right to Health-A conceptual understanding
• Right to Health in India-A situational analysis
• International and Domestic Legal Frameworks governing Right to Health
• Policy and programmatic landscape of Right to Health
• Contemporary Issues in the Right to Health landscape of India-Case studies

This paper consists of the following modules:

Module 1: Regulatory Framework on Children’s Right to Care and Protection

• International Framework and Domestic Framework
• Juvenile Justice Act in the context of care and protection
• Integrated Child Protection Scheme
• General Principles of Care and Protection
• The judicial stance on Children in need of Care and Protection

Module 2: Child in need of Care and Protection

• Child in need of Care and Protection : A holistic understanding
• Child Welfare Committee – Role, Powers and Functions
• Procedure in relation to CNCP
• Child in conflict with law as child in need of care and protection
• Interventions of the CWC:

– Orders passed by the CWC for children in need of care and protection

– Institutional intervention

-Non-institutional interventions and rehabilitation approach for child protection

• Functioning of CWC – Review and Grievance Redressal

Module 3: Child Sexual Abuse 

• Understanding Child Abuse
• Understanding Child Sexual Abuse
• Domestic framework on Child Abuse
• Domestic Framework on Child Sexual Abuse – Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012

 Module 4 : Law relating to Child Trafficking 

• Legal framework related to child trafficking
• Institutions dealing with child trafficking cases
• Landmark judicial decision on Child Trafficking
• Anti-trafficking policies and programmes
• Issues and challenges in addressing child trafficking

Module 5 : Law relating to Child Marriage

• What is Child Marriage?

– Prevalence, causes and consequences of Child Marriage

• International Legal Framework on Child Marriage:
• National Legal Framework governing Child Marriage

– Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA)

– Other Legislation

• Landmark judicial decisions on Child Marriage
• Issues and Challenges in eliminating Child Marriage

Module 6 : Law relating to Child Labour

• Understanding Child Labour
• International Framework on Child Labour
• Legal framework on Child Labour
• Landmark judicial decisions on Child Labour
• Issues and challenges in addressing child labour

Module 7 : Law relating to Children in Conflict with the Law

• Understanding Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL)
• International Framework
• Relevant Authorities for CICL
• Child Care Institutions for Children in Conflict with Law
• Juvenile Justice Boards – Powers, functions and responsibilities
• Procedures in relation to CICL
• Functions of Children’s Courts vis-à-vis CICL

Module 8: Restorative Justice

• What is restorative justice?
• International Legal Framework on Restorative Justice
• Restorative Justice Models and Practices
• Children in Conflict with Law and Restorative Justice
• Children in need of care and Protection and Restorative Justice