Underage offenders pose prosecution problem

New proposals

Some legal experts have called for more-detailed regulations to be drafted to deal with young offenders, and some want the age of criminal responsibility lowered to 12.

To bolster their case, they cited the fact that lawmakers last year reduced the age at which a child can be held liable in a civil law lawsuit from 10 to 8.

Li, from the Hubei Lawyers Association, said the change recognized that children are maturing faster than ever before, both physically and mentally. That means they are capable of distinguishing right from wrong at an earlier age.

Authorities should be able to prosecute children as young as 12, making them eligible for juvenile detention and community rehabilitation programs, he said.

However, Ye Huijuan, an associate professor of penology at East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai, said the ages of civil and criminal responsibility are not comparable.

China's Civil Law regulates between equal individuals, and the recent reduction of the age of responsibility in civil cases was aimed at protecting young people and encouraging appropriate behavior, she said.

By contrast, criminal law involves disagreements between the State and an individual, and it determines "at what age a person can be deprived of their freedom or even their life".

Harsh punishments are not the answer to juvenile crime, according to Ye.

"China sees education as the main method of treating juvenile offenders. Having a criminal record can affect someone's study and career prospects, so young ex-convicts often live worse lives than other people," she said.

In 2014, while working for the prosecuting authority in Shanghai's Jiading district, Ye helped found a rehabilitation center for migrant workers' children who offend.

The facility houses juveniles age 14 and older who have been ordered into re-education programs rather than prosecuted.

"Many of the volunteers at the center are migrant workers who can better communicate with these kids," she said.

"Such centers are a good way of helping kids instead of locking them up behind bars. The system could be extended to those below the age of criminal responsibility."