中國未成年人犯罪司法治理體系的改革研究 ——以未成年人刑事案件訴訟程序及其社會支持體系的完善為視角

Abstract

The construction of the criminal justice system for juveniles in my country began with the establishment of a specialized trial organization——the juvenile court.After more than 30 years of reform and exploration, juvenile courts in China have been developed from scratch to maturity, providing remarkable experience and successful paradigms for the reformation of Governance System of juvenile crime. Some of the experience and examples have been solidified by laws and regulations alike, and have thus become the highlights of China’s achievements in its establishment of a criminal trial system and its prevention of juvenile crimes. However, in recent years, serious criminal offenses committed by juveniles have occurred beyond frequent, and the public’s outcry for the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility is endless. After their return to society, many juvenile delinquents chose to commit crimes again, a phenomenon that has triggered extensive reflection on China’s contemporary Governance System of juvenile crime in both academic and judicial circles. Considering that China’s reform of its Governance System of juvenile crime has entered into a transitional period, the mere fine-tuning of specific systematic details would inevitably fall short of practical demands. China’s judicial reformation is now confronted with (1) stark inconsistency between legislative ideals and their actual implementation; (2) recurrent conflicts between certain reformatory measures and the concept of protecting juveniles; and (3) growing incompatibility between the efficiency of the social support system for juvenile justice and the requirements of the transition period. Invariably, these challenges are resolvable only through methodical rectifications.

When challenges emerge, opportunity also arises. The construction of Governance System of juvenile crime mandates not only the refinement of systematic specifics, but also a comprehensive reconstruction of the overall system. The future focal point of China’s Governance System of juvenile crime should be the advancement of a trial-centered juvenile legal system; and to achieve this objective, the following measures are to be adopted: (1) re-affirming the principle of the best interests of children and the principle of parens patriae, defining the position and function of each department of law in the juvenile legal system; (2) establishing a juvenile trial system that links the upper legal institutions with their lower ones, including building professional juvenile trial institutions and auxiliary teams, scientifically demarcating the scope of juvenile court cases, and constructing a scientific evaluation mechanism for juvenile trial workload; (3)building an efficient social support system for juvenile justice—one that designates the particular departments responsible for the protection of the rights and interests of juveniles, establishes a graded correction system for juvenile crimes as well as other illicit actions, and strengthens the resource supply for the social support system for juvenile justice.

Date of Award	4 Aug 2022
Original language	Chinese (Traditional)
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Minkang GU (Supervisor) & Tianxiang HE (Supervisor)