Action being taken to protect minors from crime

Procuratorates have strengthened protections for minors to dissuade and prevent them from committing or being a willing party to crime, said the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

With crimes committed by minors on the rise, procuratorates have implemented the principle of "protecting, educating and disciplining" minors and upholding the criminal justice policy of tempering justice with mercy while handling cases committed by minors, said Na Yanfang, head of the SPP's procuratorial office for minors.

To educate and rehabilitate minor offenders to the maximum extent possible, procuratorates conditionally exempted 20,000 people from prosecution last year, and approved the arrest of 27,208 minors and prosecuted 35,228 minors during the same period.

"Prosecutors have actively carried out pre-prosecution care and education, follow-up help and guidance after conditional non-prosecution to avoid any cases where minors were released and didn't make any corrections to their behavior," she said.

In 2021, procuratorial organs conducted a review of the necessity of detention for 20,045 juvenile delinquents, up 380 percent over the previous year, and ensured 203 minors who were absent from education during the period of community correction, received education.

The SPP looked into the construction of more special schools, which offer education to minors who have committed serious offenses, and required minors aged between 12 and 14 who are suspected of serious violent crimes to be sent to such schools.

Procuratorates have established a connection mechanism with special schools and explored solutions to practical problems such as enrollment procedures and effective evaluation for the students. Last year, procuratorates cooperated with relevant departments to send 2,159 delinquents to special schools for correctional education.

The top procuratorate is promoting a resolution to deep-seated social problems behind cases involving minors to prevent and reduce minor crimes and to provide better protection for minors, according to the SPP.

yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn