Little imps should not be running free in society

Fourth, civil responsibility is different from criminal responsibility, because the former can be transferred or substituted while the latter cannot, and the punishment for a crime is very severe and often comes with a lifelong stigma. Hence, the change in the age for civil liability should not necessarily lead to a change in the age for criminal responsibility.

But despite the focus of juvenile justice on rehabilitation, proper punishment is also necessary. We cannot conclude that the age for criminal responsibility should be reduced to 12, but we could and should improve the existing rules.

In China, if children below 14 commit violent offenses, their parents or custodians are required to pay civil damages. In some cases, the children are sent to a juvenile correction center but more often than not they are sent back home without receiving any punishment. Some of those children even become perpetual offenders because they don't receive appropriate corrective measures after committing the first offence.

According to the theory of criminal law, a person without enough capacity to identify and control his/her actions cannot be held criminally liable. A child below the age for criminal responsibility is presumed to not have the emotional, mental and intellectual capacity to commit a crime. Sticking to a concrete age may be convenient for law enforcement but may lead to unfairness in some cases.

The law should be made flexible on this subject by, say, introducing the principle of malicious intent vis-à-vis age. It means, if a child below the age for criminal responsibility commits an offense with substantive maliciousness, he/she should be treated as a person with full capacity to realize the consequences of his/her actions. Substantive maliciousness can be reflected in a child's intent and action, and the severity of its outcome.

Of course, strengthening penalty is not the panacea for juvenile delinquency. Many studies show poverty, parental divorce and/or domestic violence generally lead juveniles toward violence; over-exposure to violence and sex on the internet, too, could have the same effect. Therefore, teachers and parents must make efforts to provide a healthy environment for children so that they understand social relations and do not commit serious offenses.

The author is a judge at the Shunyi Court in Beijing.