China has decided to lower the age of criminal responsibility for some serious crimes. An Amended law has reduced the age from 14 to 12.
The plan is to reduce juvenile crime committed by children, ABC News reports. Children between the ages of 12-14 will be held criminally liable for “intentional homicide or intentional injury that leads to death or causes others severe disabilities by extremely cruel means” starting March 1, when the legislature will take effect.
If a child under the age of 14 commits a crime outside of the above mentioned, they will be exempt from the criminal punishment, which falls under the newly amended law but can still face correctional education.
China’s criminal liability age is currently set at 16, with those between 14 and 16 held criminally liable if they commit a serious crime, including rape, robbery, and/or intentional homicide.
According to a white paper released in June by the Supreme People’s procuratorate, China has expired a spike in juvenile crime from 2018 to 2019.
The amended law responds to the public outrage over minors responsible for committing serious crimes receiving lenient punishments.
In 2019, a 13-year-old boy murdered a 10-year-old girl and only received three years of correctional education after being found guilty. The case prompted legislators to make changes and impose stricter penalties on minors who commit serious crimes.
