Targeted rehabilitation measures aim to get troubled minors back on track

Prosecuting authorities have been ordered to help juvenile offenders get back on track by taking more targeted rehabilitation measures, rather than being too lenient or penalizing young criminals by withholding education, the top procuratorate has said.

"We've always attached importance to the rehabilitation of minor offenders using a combination of education and punishment," Shi Weizhong, director of the Ninth Procuratorial Office of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said in June.

Statistics provided by the office show that from January to November last year prosecuting authorities nationwide offered aid to 6,265 children who had committed crimes but could be conditionally exempted from prosecution. The figure was a rise of 9.67 percent year-on-year.

Thanks to the aid provided, 689 of the children were later admitted to universities, the office added.

According to the Criminal Procedure Law, juveniles are not prosecuted if they confess to crimes that carry a prison sentence of up to one year. Instead, they are given probation ranging from six months to one year.

Although prosecuting authorities across the country have been ordered to uphold the principle of "education first and punishment second" when dealing with juvenile criminals that does not mean offenders should escape punishment, the SPP said.

In the case of minors who commit serious violent offenses or act with malicious intent, prosecuting authorities should impose strict sentences and devise more accurate rehabilitation measures to help correct their behavior more effectively, it added.

In June, the SPP issued a white paper that reviewed judicial protection work for juveniles from 2014 to last year. It showed that the number of crimes committed by minors rose in 2017.

The white paper said the procuratorate is intensifying efforts to build a hierarchical intervention system for delinquent minors, while strengthening judicial protection for both the perpetrators and victims of juvenile crime.

In recent years, the handling of cases related to juveniles has been made a priority for prosecuting authorities.

In addition, while studying how to rehabilitate minor offenders, the procuratorate has redoubled the fight against those who harm juveniles.

For example, the SPP is promoting the building of a database of criminals who have sexually assaulted minors, along with an employment enquiry system to prevent people with a history of such crimes from having close contact with children.

It is also working with eight government departments to develop a compulsory reporting system to improve the judicial protection of minors and impose timely punishments on people who commit crimes against them.