Justice and protection are basic rights of every human being irrespective of age, sex, religion, color, caste, place of birth, and educational and economic background. This paper attempts to put together almost all the legal measures provided especially in India to children. Children require special protection and security because they are placed in the vulnerable class of the society which includes women, disabled and aged. Distinct thoughtfulness is required with regard to children because they are the future representatives of a nation and can be shaped as good citizens of a nation, and the world at large. While protecting and providing access to justice to children, the adoption and implementation of legal measures is very important. In addition to the aforesaid, the role of non-governmental organizations and other organizations, in fact law schools, is relevant in making justice and protection accessible to children as enshrined in the Indian Constitution as well as in various legislations.

Children, I think, all over India have the first claim on us, because they represent the India of tomorrow.

Children are very important for any nation as the welfare and development of any society largely depends on the breath and well-being of its children. It has been said, “He who holds the souls of the children, holds the nation”.2 A generation which fails to recognize that a baby is its first charge, is lost in barbarity. The hallmark of culture and advance of civilization consists in the fulfillment of our obligation to the younger generation by opening up all opportunities for them. Winston Churchill, during World War I, said, “there is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies”.

Undoubtedly children are very important for any nation and hence their needs and rights should not be seen merely as a by-product of progress, but as the means and end of progress.3 Unless this change is achieved, all investments in food production, community service and human resource development would remain less effective because children constitute a significant proportion of the population, and they would not be able to contribute fully to them nor benefit fully from them.4 Childhood is the period when minds, bodies and personalities are in the formative stage, and even temporary deprivation is capable of inflicting damage and distortion on human development.

Law Review Journal, Child Rights and You (CRY), Ensuring Justice, Protection for Children, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITP Act), State Legal Aid Boards, UNICEF, International Covenant on the Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).