Research On The Reduction Of The Age Of Responsibility In Criminal Law Amendment(11)

The "Criminal Law Amendment(11)" lowered the age of criminal responsibility to twelve years of age,in response to the community’s call for lowering the age of criminal responsibility,and tried to respond more effectively to the sharp increase in youth violent crime and the trend of younger age.An obvious situation with serious consequences for the crime.However,the "Criminal Law Amendment(11)" adopts a special method of lowering the age of criminal responsibility,and does not simply,clearly,comprehensively and uniformly stipulate(presumption)that all persons over 12 years old are indiscriminately in order to achieve criminal responsibility.Age requirements and criminal responsibility can be pursued,but four substantive elements(essentials)and one procedural element(essentials)are stipulated,and the key is that the establishment or achievement of the procedural elements(approved prosecution)are valuable for the four substantive elements basis.Different from the previous regulations on the direct and definite age of criminal responsibility,the "Criminal Law Amendment(11)" adopts an indirect and quantitative form of expression for the downward adjustment of the age of criminal responsibility.On the basis of setting the age of criminal responsibility at the age of 14,it did not choose to directly lower the starting point of criminal responsibility,but set special conditions and specific procedural requirements,which essentially broke through the original method of determining criminal responsibility: not only High physical conditions have been set,high thresholds have been set in procedures,and pre-procedures for "approved prosecution" have been set,which enables a certain minor who has reached the age of twelve to under the age of fourteen.Under the conditions of satisfying the substantive provisions of the criminal law,whether they have reached the "criminal responsibility age",whether they have the "criminal responsibility ability",and whether they should be held criminally responsible is still unclear and uncertain.A screening procedure,namely "approval of prosecution" is still required.In this way,“at least twelve years old” is only the starting age for prosecution.Whether prosecution is finally prosecuted can only be obtained after individual judgment and “approval of prosecution” can be obtained.Therefore,the "Criminal Law Amendment(11)" provides for the age of criminal responsibility(capacity)at the age of twelve,which is completely different from the previous provisions(rules)of the Criminal Law regarding the age of criminal responsibility.It is uncertain and selective.Provisions(rules)with discretionary space.This rule requires the relevant judicial organs in the pre-approval prosecution procedure to correctly understand and grasp the laws and regulations,in accordance with the facts,evidence and relevant legal provisions that are under investigation or have been ascertained,combined with case handling experience,and after full consideration of factual evidence Conduct a review to determine whether the defendant should be held criminally responsible.The criminal law’s legal provisions on the age of criminal responsibility have fluctuated up and down,but they are relatively stable on the whole.legislators have not only paid attention to the serious crimes of young minors,but have been seeking countermeasures in the criminal law,including that there was a draft that set twelve or thirteen years as the starting point for criminal responsibility.In order to maintain the stability of the criminal law on the age of criminal responsibility,legislation should be carefully formulated.The "Criminal Law Amendment(11)" lowers the age to twelve,which is a response to public sentiment and the reality of crimes committed by young minors in society,and reflects legislators’ caution in lowering the capacity for criminal responsibility.The "Criminal Law Amendment(11)" breaks through the traditional legislative model and changes the way of criminal liability capacity.The procedure of "approval of prosecution" is in advance,which determines that the approval of the highest prosecution organ must be individual and discretionary.Therefore,the approved behavior that determines whether to prosecute the criminal behavior of a minor who has reached the age of twelve must be based on the subjective and objective factors reflected in the facts and evidence of the individual case.There will also be inconsistencies in the uncertainty of the criminal liability(confirmation)of minors between the ages of twelve and under the age of fourteen,which may lead to conflicts between the uniformity of the law and the justice of individual cases,leading to the process of judicial activities There is a lack of substantively unified standards for determination,and there is the possibility of different judicial strengths-even if the right to approve prosecution is exercised by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate,it will not completely eliminate the differences in the submission and review of localities.In addition,there may also be power rent-seeking phenomena in certain places,departments or links.Therefore,the guarantee of uniform quality and standards for prosecution cases approved by the highest prosecutors reported by local procuratorates at all levels is the key.This article believes that the meaning and significance of the approved prosecution procedure and its impact on case filing,investigation and prosecution need to be clarified.The essence of the procedure of "approval of prosecution" lies in not only strengthening the criminal investigation of juvenile delinquency,but also preventing and controlling the expansion of the scope of prosecution,which violates the principle of "education first,punishment second".The approval procedure for prosecution of minors who have reached the age of 12 in the Criminal Law Amendment(11)should be different from the “approval procedure”stipulated by the Supreme People?s Procuratorate in the “People?s Procuratorate Criminal Procedure Rules”.However,it can be fully used for reference.On the basis of "approval procedures",a pre-procedure compatible with the requirements of "approved prosecution" has been established.