the death penalty in December 2014, despite numerous calls from the international community and the United Nations in this regard”. However, despite facing continued censure from the international diplomatic community, the Government of Pakistan continues to sentence and execute juvenile offenders in violation of international legal standards. T H E J U V E N I L E J U S T I C E S YS T E M I N PA K I S TA N The Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000 (JJSO) is the primary law underlying the conduct of juvenile justice in Pakistan. The legislation delineates separate and strengthened safeguards for juveniles below the age of 18 involved in criminal litigation with an aim to rehabilitate and reintegrate them back into society. The most significant safeguard that the JJSO provides juveniles is its Section 12 which “[prohibits] the sentencing of juvenile offenders to death, or labour during their imprisonment”. A THE PROBLEMS OF IMPLEMENTING JJSO However, since its enactment the JJSO has been marred by a lack of implementation and political will and successive governments have failed to fulfil its provisions. As a result, juvenile offenders are meted out the same treatment as hardened criminals. A major problem in hampering the course of juvenile justice is the dismal lack of birth registrations in Pakistan. As a result, when juveniles are arrested they lack any documentation proving their age, thus children are kept in prison with adults until a plea of juvenility is raised at the trial stage. This issue is exacerbated by either the lack of awareness among the police about their duty under the JJSO to conduct age determination or the deliberate registration of juveniles as adults by the police in order to avoid the safeguards afforded to underage suspects in the JJSO. Other failures in implementing the JJSO include: a) failure to provide children with competent legal assistance when they come in contact with the law, b) failure to establish separate courts for juveniles that protect their privacy and are attuned to their special needs, c) failure to establish separate and specialized detention centres for juveniles, and d) failure to set up a functional probationary and rehabilitative department. B LACK OF RETROSPECTIVE FORCE On a bare reading of the JJSO, a significant proportion of the population of juvenile prisoners fall outside the ambit of the protections accorded by the law- including protection from the death penalty as they were convicted and sentenced before its implementation. However, on 13 December 2001, the President of Pakistan, exercising his powers under Article 45 of the Constitution, issued a Notification that granted special remission to all the juveniles on death row, whose sentence had been confirmed by a High Court before 17 December 2013, and their punishment was commuted to life imprisonment. In 2004, the Lahore High Court confirmed the Presidential Order. It ruled that a juvenile under sentence of death, whose case had been decided before the promulgation of the JJSO is still entitled to the protection of the JJSO. DEATH ROW’S CHILDREN 06