Justice for Juveniles

By+Li+Li

The brutality committed by a 10-yearold girl in southwest Chinas Chongqing Municipality that was captured on a surveillance camera shocked the country late last year.

On the afternoon of November 25， 2013， the girl entered an elevator and unexpectedly picked up a one-and-half-year-old boy when he went following his grandmother and was left. In the video footage shot by the camera in the elevator， the girl was shown hurling the toddler to the ground before beating and kicking him violently. When the elevator door opened on the 25th floor， the girl tossed him out of the elevator doors.

When the worried grandmother took the elevator to the 25th floor， she came across the girl coming back out of her home， but when she asked if the girl had seen the child she said that he had been taken away by a stranger.

The boy was found covered in blood only minutes later by a community guard， on the ground not far away from a bush. The girl later told the police that she continued to beat up the boy in her homes living room before taking him to the balcony， where the boy accidentally fell through the railings to the ground.

It took the boy a week to wake up from a coma， although he ultimately survived after undergoing major brain surgeries.

After netizens called for harsh punishment for the girl， she moved to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region with her mother， who received a job transfer on December 2， 2013. Local police said that there would not be a criminal investigation against the girl， as she had not reached the age of criminal responsibility， which is 14 in China.

In China， children under 14 are deemed incapable of having committed criminal offences， while those aged between 14 and 16 are criminally responsible for only eight severe offenses： intentional homicide， intentional attacks resulting in serious injury or death， rape， robbery， drug trafficking， arson， causing explosions and poisoning.

Chinas juvenile population has exceeded 300 million， roughly equivalent to the total population of the United States. Results from various studies show that the number of extreme cases of youth crime is on the rise.

There have been a troubling number of examples in recent years. On October 24， 2012， a 12-year-old boy from Mile County， Yunnan Province， strangled an 8-year-old schoolmate on his way back from school to seek revenge over an argument.

On April 15， 2012， a 12-year-old girl from Hechi City， Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， invited her classmate over to play， then stabbed her to death with a knife. The reason she cited was that she was jealous of the classmates good looks.endprint

The best way to punish and rehabilitate children and teenagers who have committed serious offenses is a topic that has attracted a lot of discussion by legal professionals in the wake of such incidents.

Ineffective rehabilitation

Statistics released by the China Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Research Society last November revealed that the average age that juveniles start acting out is 12.2 years old in China.

According to a survey conducted by the Harbin Mother and Child Hospital on 900 children aged between 2 and 5， around 20.8 percent of them showed aggressive behavior.

“Behind every problematic child is a poor education at home，” said Zhang Shuqin， deputy headmaster of a primary school in Linyi City， Shandong Province. She said it is a pity that adults in China dont have access to parenthood training.

According to Chinas Criminal Law， if a person is not given criminal punishment because he or she has not reached 16， his or her parents or guardians are to be ordered to discipline them； when necessary， juvenile offenders may be taken in by government-run corrective facilities.

Hong Daode， a professor at the Beijingbased China University of Political Science and Law， told local newspaper Beijing Times that such stipulations need to be amended， as parents or guardians may not be capable or qualified to correct their children. He suggested that relevant government departments or certified organizations conduct overall appraisals of these guardians before giving their children back to them.

Hong said that the government didnt have the financial resources to run such programs in the past and this situation should be changed as the country has become richer.

“If parents are evaluated as being incapable of raising their children， they should no longer be allowed to be guardians，” Hong said. He added that both young offenders and their parents should be re-educated and there should be community programs for these parents.

Meanwhile， the efficacy of governmentrun corrective facilities for teenagers has been questioned.

Wu Bin from Beijings Chaoyang District Peoples Procuratorate conducted a follow-up survey on juvenile delinquency cases handled by his organization during 2003 and 2004 and found that 47.5 percent of juveniles sent to corrective facilities committed crimes a second time during probation.endprint

In his report， Wu noted that cross-contamination of criminal inclinations is common in juvenile corrective facilities， which can exert profound negative influence on those sent there for impulsive offenses and increase their risk of becoming chronic， long-term offenders.

Another study of juvenile delinquency cases that was carried out in Beijings former Chongwen District， now part of Dongcheng District， between 2003 and 2006 found that many of the offenders that had been discharged from corrective facilities committed crimes within two to three months after their release.

Meanwhile， the scope of applying compulsive correction to young offenders has been narrowed. According to the Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency that came into force in 1999， before sending a minor to a reformatory school for correction， cure and re-education， an application is to be filed by a parent， guardian， or the school where he or she originally studied， and be subject to the approval of the education authority. In the past， the police possessed the power to send a child or teenager with problematic behavior to these schools.

Immature justice system

Legal experts also complain that China operates one of the least mature juvenile justice systems among the worlds major economies. Chinas first juvenile court was only established in Shanghai in 1984. The first juvenile court in the United States had already been established in Illinois in 1899， nearly 100 years prior.

According to the Supreme Peoples Court， Chinas highest judicial body， the country had more than 2，300 juvenile courts by July 2011， which employed around 7，400 judges.

Led by the courts， the various criminal justice organs have been gradually developing specialized departments to handle juvenile cases， with personnel who are trained to work with juveniles and are aware of their special vulnerabilities and legal rights.

Chinas amended Criminal Procedure Law， which was adopted by the top legislature in March 2012， introduces a number of positive measures， including the creation of a new chapter on procedures for juvenile crime cases.

Special concessions are included for when a juvenile suspect or defendant has not appointed someone to carry out their defense in court， he or she is entitled to an attorney assigned by a legal aid organization. Investigators should generally allow an offenders parents or guardians to be present at interrogations and prosecutors may grant conditional non-prosecution to juveniles who have committed minor crimes. Also， where an offender is under the age of 18 at the time of a crime and is sentenced to imprisonment of less than five years， relevant records of the crime are to be sealed.endprint

However， scholars studying juvenile justice are not satisfied with the situation in China. At a seminar on the relationship between preventing juvenile crimes and the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Law in April 2012， Professor Yao Jianlong at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law said that the chapter on procedures for juvenile crime cases in the law “failed to adopt the core values of modern juvenile justice system and continued a penalty centric view.”

“The focus of the modern juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate juveniles， rather than to imprison and punish them，” Yao told newspaper Southern Weekly. He added that law enforcement organs under Chinas current justice system have only two choices when it comes to delinquent juveniles： punishing them or letting them go.

“We are creating hardened criminals that we will have to deal with again in the future，”Yao said.

“Our regulations on juvenile crimes， whether under the Criminal Law or Criminal Procedure Law， are nothing more than juvenile versions of laws for adults，” said Tong Lihua， Director of the Special Committee for Child Protection under the All China Lawyers Association. In a commentary article on the infant-abuse case by the 10-year-old girl in Chongqing， he wrote that while children are the focus of every familys attention， they dont get enough attention from society.

Like many scholars， Chen Hongguo， a senior research fellow at the Northwest University of Politics and Law in Xian， Shaanxi Province， looks forward to the promulgation of a law dedicated to juvenile delinquents in China. “Chinas legal framework has room for improvement in this regard， like in many other areas， but we understand that it takes time，” Chen said.endprint