The Justice Verma Committee, established to recommend legal reforms following the Nirbhaya gangrape case in 2012, included Ribhu’s proposals to add new offences such as the accountability of public servants, stalking, voyeurism, and trafficking.
Ribhu has also influenced how Indian courts handle cases of child sexual abuse, child marriage, and Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM). His legal interventions have shaped both policy and practice, bringing real change for vulnerable children. Through Just Rights for Children (JRC), he has built one of India’s largest legal child protection networks, working across 28 states. The network fights systemic child abuse, ensures justice for survivors, and holds offenders accountable. Ribhu is also the driving force behind Child Marriage Free India, a movement that started from the ground up.
What began as a grassroots effort led by thousands of women is now India’s largest civil society campaign against child marriage. In just two years, it has transformed public conversation and legal action on a crime once normalised by tradition.
In 2024, Ribhu helped launch India’s Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat and Nepal’s Child Marriage Free campaigns. His call to end child marriage now powers a global movement – Child Marriage Free World – active in 39 countries and uniting communities to protect children from this social crime. Founded in 1963, the World Jurist Association has honoured legal luminaries such as Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and René Cassin – men and women whose legal vision helped reshape the world.
With this medal, Bhuwan Ribhu joins the ranks of those whose work changed systems and touched lives. Held from May4 – 6, the World Law Congress 2025 brought together over 300 speakers from more than 70 countries.
The Medal of Honour is reserved for jurists whose work has global implications for human rights and justice – among them Presidents, Prime Ministers, judges, prosecutors, ministers, academics, and lawyers.