Police cannot search phones of children under 15: High Court

High Court has ruled today that in the case of accusations against children below the age of 15, Police cannot search through their phones or similar devices.

As per the Juvenile Justice Act, children under 15 do not bear criminal responsibility. However, Police appealed to the Juvenile Court to issues a warrant to seize and search through the phone of a 14 year old in relation to allegations of crime against him.

In this case, the Juvenile Court ruled in October that they cannot issue such an order as the child is not of an age to bear criminal responsibility. The State appealed this verdict at the High Court, stating that such an order can be issued even if criminal charges cannot be pressed.

The High Court ruled on the appeal last week, stating the law does not allow for action to be taken against children who are not of the age to bear criminal responsibility.

It said that while the Constitution states that individual's personal information is protected, the Court can only issue an order narrowing this right through a law or to the extent the law allows.

"No matter how good the intention, law enforcement agencies can only take any measures within the boundaries of the law. The court, too, cannot show any other paths," the High Court verdict reads.

The ruling, made with the unanimous votes on three judges, further states that even if a court issues such an order against a child below the age of 15, there is no more action the court can take should the child refuse to comply.

As the law states that children under 15 do not bear criminal responsibility, there is no action that can be taken for failure to follow an order either. The court said that the only option in the cases of such children is rehabilitation.

In light of these, the High Court ruled that there is no reason to change the ruling of the Juvenile Court.

The High Court bench ruling on the case consists of Judge Abdul Maniu Hussain, Judge Mohamed Shaneez and Judge Mohamed Saleem.

While the High Court has ruled so, the government has previously announced that they will be proposing to parliament an amendment to the law to decrease the age of criminal responsibility to 12 years.