On The Juvenile Criminal Policy

In September, 2002, the special subject preparatory meeting of the seventeenth international criminal law convening in Vienna points out: society should provide minors special protection, especially legislation, society and judiciary system. As the main body of law, teenager has their own particularity. It is precisely these special characteristics, has enabled us to explore the special criminal law - juvenile criminal law that different from the traditional criminal law. On the basis of comprehensive analysis of crime, the associated juvenile criminal policy is the social and legal strategies aimed at prevention and combating the issues raised by the crime.China's construction of the juvenile justice system has nearly 20 years' history. But most concentrates in reform of the process and organizational development. It is a big pity that the reform of the substantive law is rarely. This paper starts off the criminal policy of combining punishment with leniency, using juvenile criminal theory, legislation and actual judicial practice home and abroad for reference, and suggests we clear and perfect it. The main body of this paper includes the following:PartⅠ, a summary of juvenile criminal policy. As a special kind of criminal policy, juvenile criminal policy is a juvenile-based policy and has binary characteristic standing separately with common criminal policy. It includes juvenile criminal legislative policy, juvenile criminal judiciary policy, as well as juvenile crime social policies. Juvenile criminal concept is a theoretical cornerstone of juvenile criminal policy' formulation, and guidance for the practice of juvenile criminal operation. Its creation and development is inseparable with the cognition that a teenager being unlike an adult in aspect such as physiology, mentality. Justice concept that make the protection of juvenile is own to the idea of a minor in biology, psychology, education disciplines, "Youth can not premeditated crime", the establishing of Parens patriae theory, as well as the changes and integration from retribution to education. All these have an important impact on the keynote of the juvenile criminal policy of combining punishment with leniency. "Combining punishment with leniency" in the juvenile criminal policy refers to concentrate its limited resources to punish severe crime, meanwhile, to deal with minor crimes with leniency. It calls on strengthening supervision for them under the circumstances of overall clemency for youthful offenders.PartⅡ, juvenile criminal legislative policy. At present, our country has no independent juvenile Penal Code, nor do we have special juvenile criminal law sections in the Penal Code. Both criminal legislation and criminal study, juvenile misconduct is in marginalized areas all the time. Therefore, the author suggests delimiting the juvenile criminal policy circle, perfecting or designing suitable disposal measures for serious misconduct juvenile. The author also advises we to bring it into the criminal rule, and the object of juvenile criminal law is serious misconduct and juvenile delinquency. Secondly, as a last resort for teenagers, penalty system even have to be applied, most juvenile criminal law in foreign countries will reform it. Judging from the settings of penalty system, there is not distinguish between adults and juveniles. This is a major omission and regret for legislation. One of the basic ideas of juvenile criminal law is to avoid the traditional penalty being added in the teenager to the full, as a result, it take protective treatment as important characteristic. Protective treatment is beneficial coercive measures whose main function is to avoid and replace traditional penalties. Referring to the structure of protective treatment system, we can reform present measures, such as sternly control, fine, admonish, apology, compensation for loss, to protective treatment, on the other hand, and draw on a number of useful measures and overseas experience to set up some new protective treatment, for example, community service, holiday life counseling, probation, and so on.PartⅢ, juvenile criminal judiciary policy. Juvenile criminal justice policy is actually a further step to implement and implementation of juvenile criminal legislative policy. It receives the concept of protection and education from juvenile criminal law, at the same time, what is more important is to ensure and fulfill combining punishment with leniency of juvenile criminal concept from each stages and processes. Establish the appropriate adult participation system in investigation stage. On the basis of parents, guardians, teachers etc as appropriate adults, expand volunteer source in need and make clear that the most important role of appropriate adults in the questioning is to protect the rights of youthful suspect. When talk to taking coercive measures to the juvenile criminal suspects, bail should be the first choice. On the basis of property guarantee manner and guarantor manner, the author suggests the recognizance manner on the trial where appropriate. In the stage of the approval of prosecution, it focuses on postponing prosecuting which embodies hesitation of prosecution, the purpose of punishment, and really reflects the juvenile criminal policy of combining punishment with leniency. In the trial stage, the court education as an important feature of trial for juvenile criminal cases is an independent existence. Through the analysis of subjective and objective reasons why the juvenile defendant committed crimes, they expound the harmful results to society and point out the direction of future efforts. So effect is sometimes very obvious. Postponing to sentence will mobilize the initiative of juvenile defendants, and will make the juvenile court judgers correctly grasp and free sentence. At the implementation phase, the author brings forward a few suggestions about perfecting our present non-imprisonment punishment and proposes social participation in the implementation of punishment. In the returning stage after the implementation, this paper demand to build the abolishment of criminal record for the juvenile who have completed their sentences as to deepen the protection to their various lawful rights and interests.PartⅣ, juvenile criminal social policy. "The best social policy is the best criminal policy", when we are faced with more complex juvenile crime situation than any time in the past, reviewing this well-known words by Liszt who is a German Jurists. Through multifaceted, all-round and comprehensive treatment by the constitutor and executor of public policy, we expect to achieve the fundamental goal of improving our criminal environment. The establishment of institutions for the protection of minors is organizing request for developing the juvenile criminal social policies. At present, our administrative system of protecting minors and of promoting the work of the minors are loose. This attributed to the lack of government agencies which take the full-time responsibility, which also has led to the related minor organizations only performing their own duties. Juvenile welfare policy can ensure their food, clothing in most pressing needs and invigoration at early growth phase. Thereby, it is able to effectively eliminate a source of criminal motives, and to prevent a part of juvenile delinquency's happening on the headstream. The prevention and management of juvenile delinquency needs the every effort by the family, school and society.