Emphasis on correction in juvenile cases

Procuratorial organs in China have stepped up efforts to prevent and curb juvenile delinquency, with data from the country's top procuratorate showing a continued decline in juvenile prosecution cases.

About 85,000 juveniles were approved for prosecution in the first 11 months of last year, down 9.7 percent year-on-year, according to figures released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Against the backdrop of falling juvenile prosecution caseloads, the SPP reported further progress at a national prosecutor-general conference in Beijing on Monday. It said procuratorial authorities have strengthened protection of minors' rights and interests while maintaining a tough stance against crimes targeting minors.

Between January and November 2025, about 66,000 people were prosecuted for offenses that included sexual assault and injury of minors, representing a 1.9 percent year-on-year decrease, the SPP said.

Beyond punitive and protective measures, the SPP emphasized growing awareness among procuratorial organs that prevention itself constitutes protection, and that punishment can also serve as redemption. To that end, authorities have prioritized efforts to punish, educate, guide and rehabilitate juvenile offenders.

Procurators have strictly approved prosecutions for serious violent crimes committed by minors aged 12 to 14, while also promoting the development of special schools and strengthening legal supervision over special education and correction programs.

To build a more comprehensive protection network, guidelines for handling juvenile protection public interest litigation cases have been formulated, the SPP said. The guidelines aim to coordinate the roles of families, schools, society, the internet, government and the justice system to jointly safeguard minors' healthy development.

Xian Jie, director of the SPP's Minors Procuratorial Department, said juvenile delinquency typically follows a progression from bad behavior to serious bad behavior and then to criminal conduct. She noted that the Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency has established a "three-level prevention" system to enable timely intervention and correction of early misconduct, particularly serious forms.

In a recent interview with People's Procuratorial Semimonthly, a professional theoretical journal, Xian elaborated on the SPP's multipronged approach. She said the SPP has leveraged its role throughout criminal proceedings to strengthen coordination between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice authorities, as well as other departments, clarifying responsibilities, disposal measures and cooperation mechanisms. These efforts, she said, have advanced the development of a classified intervention and correction system for juveniles.

The SPP has also guided local procuratorates to explore practical approaches and summarize experience, fostering an integrated governance model for juvenile delinquent behavior, Xian said.

In Zhejiang province, for example, the provincial people's procuratorate launched pilot programs in 16 grassroots procuratorates across 11 cities. Working with education, public security and other departments, it established a differentiated intervention and correction system through family education guidance, judicial admonitions and special education.

To complement judicial and administrative measures, special corrective education has been expanded to target minors who committed criminal acts but are exempt from punishment because they are under the statutory age of criminal responsibility. According to the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the country now has 430 special schools, including 316 that operate special corrective education facilities. That number is nearly three times higher than at the end of 2023, with every province now hosting at least one such facility.

Despite these gains, challenges remain, said He Ting, a professor at Beijing Normal University. He said China has made substantial progress in building and operating a multilevel intervention mechanism for juvenile offenders and has formed a legal framework integrating education, correction and punishment.

The framework takes into account minors' physical and mental development and the social harm of their actions, clarifying the scope of differentiated intervention, He said. It categorizes juvenile misconduct into criminal acts, illegal acts, and bad or serious bad behavior, enabling targeted intervention.

In practice, a multilevel alignment has been established between criminal punishment, public security penalties and educational protective measures, forming an interconnected system of criminal, administrative and educational interventions, He added.

However, He stressed that there is an urgent need to break down interdepartmental barriers to enable information sharing, coordinated action and closed-loop accountability, ensuring the effective operation of the classified intervention mechanism.

He also noted that despite advances in special and corrective education, issues across the entire process — from enrollment to education and correction — still require standardization and timely improvement.

The effective functioning of the juvenile misconduct intervention system cannot rely solely on administrative and judicial authorities, He said. Its success depends on a robust social support system, including judicial social workers, psychological counseling, vocational training and efforts to eliminate social discrimination.

"To fully realize institutional effectiveness, classification standards must be unified, connections between measures standardized, the professionalism of education and correction systems enhanced, and social participation better coordinated," He said.

yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn