Justice for Juveniles

　　The brutality committed by a 10-year-old girlin southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality thatwas captured on a surveillance camera shocked thecountry late last year.

　　On the afternoon of November 25， 2013， the girlentered an elevator and unexpectedly picked up aone-and-half-year-old boy when he went followinghis grandmother and was left. The video footagefrom inside the elevator showed the girl hurling thetoddler to the ground before beating and kicking himviolently. When the elevator door opened on the 25thfloor， the girl tossed him out of the elevator doors.

　　When the worried grandmother took the elevatorto the 25th floor， she came across the girl comingback out of her home， but when she asked if the girlhad seen the child， the girl said that he had beentaken away by a stranger.

　　A community guard found the boy only minuteslater， on the ground and covered in blood. The girllater told the police that she continued to beat up theboy in her home’s living room before taking him tothe balcony， where the boy accidentally fell throughthe railings to the ground.

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

　　After netizens called for harsh punishment for thegirl， she moved to the Xinjiang Uygur AutonomousRegion with her mother. Local police said that therewould 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 incapableof bearing criminal responsibility， while thoseaged between 14 and 16 are criminally responsiblefor only eight severe offenses： intentionalhomicide， intentional attacks resulting in seriousinjury or death， rape， robbery， drug trafficking，arson， causing explosions and poisoning.China’s juvenile population has exceeded300 million， roughly equivalent tothe total population of the United States.Results from various studies show that thenumber of extreme cases of youth crimeis on the rise.

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

　　On April 15， 2012， a 12-year-old girl from HechiCity， Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， invited herclassmate over to play， then stabbed her to death witha knife. The reason she cited was that she was jealousof the classmate’s good looks.

　　Ineffective rehabilitation

　　Statistics released by the China Juvenile DelinquencyPrevention Research Society last November revealedthat the average age that juveniles start acting out is12.2 years old in China.

　　According to a survey conducted by the HarbinMother and Child Hospital on 900 children agedbetween two and five， around 20.8 percent of themshowed aggressive behavior.

　　“Behind every problematic child is a poor educationat home，” said Zhang Shuqin， deputy headmasterof a primary school in Linyi City， Shandong Province.She said it is a pity that adults in China don’t have accessto parenthood training.

　　According to China’s Criminal Law， if a personis not given criminal punishment becausehe or she has not reached 16， his or her parentsor guardians are to be ordered to disciplinethem； when necessary， juvenile offenders may betaken in by government-run corrective facilities.

　　Hong Daode， Professor of the Beijing-basedChina University of Political Science and Law，told local newspaper， Beijing Times， thatsuch stipulations need to be amended， asparents or guardians may not be capable orqualified to correct their children. He suggestedthat relevant government departmentsor certified organizations conductoverall appraisals of these guardians beforegiving their children back to them.

　　Hong said that the government didn’thave the financial resources to run such programs inthe past and this situation should be changed as thecountry has become richer.

　　Meanwhile， the efficacy of government-run correctivefacilities for teenagers has been questioned.

　　Wu Bin from Beijing’s Chaoyang District People’sProcuratorate conducted a follow-up survey on juveniledelinquency cases handled by his organizationduring 2003 and 2004 and found that 47.5 percentof juveniles sent to corrective facilities committedcrimes a second time during probation.

　　In his report， Wu noted that cross-impact ofcriminal inclinations is common in juvenile correctivefacilities， which can exert profound negative influenceon those sent there for impulsive offenses andincrease their risk of becoming chronic， long-termoffenders.

　　Immature justice system

　　Legal experts also complain that China operates oneof the least mature juvenile justice systems amongthe world’s major economies. China’s first juvenilecourt was only established in Shanghai in 1984. Thefirst juvenile court in the United States had alreadybeen established in Illinois in 1899， nearly 100 yearsprior.

　　According to the Supreme People’s Court， China’shighest judicial body， the country had more than2，300 juvenile courts by July 2011， which employedaround 7，400 judges.

　　Led by the courts， the various criminal justiceorgans have been gradually developing specializeddepartments to handle juvenile cases， with personnelwho are trained to work with juveniles and areaware of their special vulnerabilities and legal rights.

　　China’s amended Criminal Procedure Law， whichwas adopted by the top legislature in March 2012，introduces a number of positive measures， includingthe creation of a new chapter on procedures forjuvenile crime cases.

　　Special concessions are included for when ajuvenile suspect or defendant has not appointedsomeone to carry out their defense in court， he orshe is entitled to an attorney assigned by a legal aidorganization. Investigators should generally allowan offender’s parents or guardians to be present atinterrogations and prosecutors may grant conditionalnon-prosecution to juveniles who have committedminor crimes. Also， where an offender is under theage of 18 at the time of a crime and is sentenced toimprisonment of less than five years， relevant recordsof the crime are to be sealed.

　　However， scholars studying juvenile justice arenot satisfied with the situation in China. At a seminaron the relationship between preventing juvenilecrimes and the amendment of the Criminal ProcedureLaw in April 2012， Professor Yao Jianlong atShanghai University of Political Science and Law saidthat the chapter on procedures for juvenile crimecases in the law “failed to adopt the core values ofmodern juvenile justice system and continued apenalty centric view.”

　　“The focus of the modern juvenile justice systemis to rehabilitate juveniles， rather than to imprisonand punish them，” Yao told Southern Weekly. Headded that law enforcement organs under China’scurrent justice system have only two choices whenit comes to delinquent juveniles： punishing them orletting them go.

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