Necessary that minors are held accountable: China Daily editorial

The longstanding question of whether the age of criminal responsibility should be lowered received a definite answer on Saturday when the 11th article of China's Criminal Law lowered the age to 12 years from 14.

It means that minors from the age of 12 will bear criminal responsibility should they commit a serious offense.

Whether juvenile crime rates have been declining or increasing could hardly be determined as those minors under the age of 14 who committed severe crimes such as murder or serious physical abuse were not prosecuted according to the previous Criminal Law. Although the decisions not to arrest and not to prosecute young offenders increased by 6.9 percent and 13.8 percent respectively from 2018 to 2019.

Some of the cases involving minors are appalling. A 13-year-old boy killed a 10-year-old girl in a city in 2019 and he was so composed he pretended to participate in the search for the girl. He even lied about what he did when questioned.

There are more cases of bullying reported on campus. Some minors, who are aware that they will not bear criminal responsibility for the severe crimes that they commit, have no scruples about physically abusing others. In some cases, those who were bullied developed serious psychological trauma or suffered disabilities because of their physical injuries.

However, the previous 11th article of the Criminal Law exempted minors under the age of 14 from criminal responsibility no matter how serious the crimes they committed. They were not prosecuted and thereby did not face the risk of a prison sentence.

Despite the fact that a person is still considered as coming of age at 18, children mature much earlier than is commonly supposed. They have more channels to receive information of all kinds than their counterparts in the last century when newspapers and TV were major news media.

They have obtained from social media information that they should not be exposed to because of the immaturity of their psychology. Pornography, violence, the use of drugs and so on are likely to lead some children astray when they are exposed to them.

It is therefore reasonable and necessary for the age of criminal responsibility to be lowered to 12 when not having to bear criminal responsibility turns out to be a shelter for those minor criminals who are mature enough to know what they are doing when they try to kill or physically abuse others.

Lowering the age of criminal responsibility is meant to prevent minors from committing severe crimes by telling them there is a line for them to toe and their parents to perform well the duty of a guardian.