Bhuwan Ribhu, a noted child rights lawyer and activist, became the first Indian lawyer to receive the Medal of Honour from the World Jurist Association (WJA) at the World Law Congress 2024. The award recognizes his two-decade-long contribution to child rights, legal reforms, and grassroots activism.
About WJA Medal of Honour
| Feature | Details |
| Awarded by | World Jurist Association (WJA) |
| Event | World Law Congress 2024 |
| Participants | 1500+ legal experts, 300 speakers from 70+ countries |
| Established | 1963 |
| Past Awardees | Sir Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, King Felipe VI of Spain, Kerry Kennedy, René Cassin |
| Award Criteria | Global impact on human rights, justice, and rule of law |
Why Bhuwan Ribhu Was Honoured?
| Area | Contribution |
| Legal Action | Filed & led 60+ PILs for child protection |
| Supreme Court Interventions | Influenced landmark rulings on child rights |
| Law Reforms | Key role in banning hazardous child labour, mandatory FIRs for missing children, and criminalizing trafficking |
| Justice Verma Committee | Contributed to defining new crimes like stalking, voyeurism, and public servant accountability post-2012 Nirbhaya case |
| Advocacy | Championed child sexual abuse, child marriage, and exploitation law reforms |
About Bhuwan Ribhu
- Founder of Just Rights for Children (JRC):
- World’s largest legal intervention network for child protection.
- Active across 28 Indian states and several countries.
- Campaign Leader:
- Child Marriage Free India: India’s largest civil society movement against child marriage.
- Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat (2024): Nationwide campaign extended to Nepal.
- Child Marriage Free World: A global movement active in 39 countries.
- Pioneer in Legal Advocacy:
- Helped adopt UN Protocol’s definition of trafficking into Indian law.
- Influenced laws related to child sexual abuse, child exploitation, and legal accountability for protection failure.