Legal reforms in the juvenile justice system

Legal reforms in the juvenile justice system by the Second Branch of the Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate

In 2005 standard implementation of law enforcement was undertaken by Central Commission of Politics and Law, Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Second Branch of the Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate (therefore after "Beijing second procuratorate") achieved successful working mechanism reform under the principle of impartial and standard law enforcement.

Beijing second procuratorate took "six measures" in processing juvenile delinquency cases. The six measures are handling cases by system, function, typical cases, brands and interaction. It established a juvenile prosecution office to deal with criminal, civil, administrative cases concerning juvenile offenders and also take social responsibility to prevent juvenile crimes.

In examining and prosecuting juvenile offenders, Beijing second procuratorate established mechanisms like: principal procurator in charge, "sub-case" prosecution, providing legal aid, appropriate adult presence, social surveys and crime prevention. This year, Beijing second procuratorate formed a juvenile procuratorate office to professionalize, standardize and systematize prosecution and better protect juvenile offenders' rights.

In addition, social investigators are appearing in court in juvenile cases. Since September last year, the juvenile procuratorate office has invited social investigators to appear in court in six cases. The office will better implement this measure in a scientific and standard way.

In terms of better communication, Beijing second procuratorate launched the "implementation measures for strengthening and formulating legal interpretation and communication" and proposed nine ways of problem-solving and seven models for interpreting laws and communications.

This regulation was specially tailored for adolescents. "Parental meeting" system was also used in special cases to help soothe offenders' emotions and eliminate conflicts against judiciary departments, in order to help solve cases and protect juveniles.

The juvenile procuratorate office also opened an official micro blog account, "fly your dreams". This measure is to help maintain public relations and promote social management innovation and build a bridge between prosecutors and young people. The micro blog is regularly updated by a special team.

Beijing second procuratorate promotes systematic innovation with events and practices. In one case, when the juvenile procuratorate office was charging Liu for intentional injury, Liu's mother expressed her wish to meet with Liu and send his grandfather's last words. The procurator arranged the meeting. Liu was moved by his grandfather's words about "learning lessons and rehabilitating", and after he confessed his wrongful acts in court, he sent his deepest apology to the victim's family.

Such parental meetings brought good results in communication and protection of adolescents' rights, and therefore should be promoted in other cases.