Judicial Conversation. Exploring the judicial role and its challenges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (‘POCSO’) Act, 2012.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (‘POCSO’) Act, 2012 introduced a new court into the Indian legal system. It is an institutional regime dedicated to dealing with the challenges within criminal justice that arise from cases of sexual offences against children. After setting out the key characteristics of this new criminal justice regime the focus of the conversation will be the distinctive role that the judges play in these courts. The discussion will draw on Dr Kumar’s empirical research in this field. Between 2019 and 2020 he conducted extensive fieldwork in India. This included courtroom observation and interviews with various stakeholders. Of particular significance for this conversation are in-depth face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 17 judicial officers (Judicial Magistrates & POCSO Special Judges) through which he explored judicial perceptions and experiences of the POCSO courts. One of the areas of particular interest is the role of stakeholder training. The discussion will explore what if any are the effects of such training on judicial stakeholder engagement with child victims and on CSA cases in the POCSO courts. 

Speaker: Dr. Shailesh Kumar 

Dr. Shailesh Kumar is a Lecturer in Law at the Department of Law and Criminology, Royal Holloway, University of London. Previously, he taught at the University of East London, at SOAS, University of London and at Birkbeck Law School. He completed his PhD in 2023 from Birkbeck, University of London, as a Commonwealth Scholar funded by the UK government. His research and teaching are at the intersection of criminal law, criminology, public law, social policy, legal anthropology, and South Asia Studies.

Chair: Professir Leslie J Moran, Emeritus Professor, School of Law Birkbeck College.