Giving youth a robust defense

She says a good prosecutor for minors should not only be a serious "national prosecutor" but also strive to become a "national guardian" and actively help the children find their future direction.

When she was a child, Gu loved to read martial arts fiction, dreaming of becoming a female warrior who draws a sword and renders help when facing injustice.

In 2006, after Gu graduated from East China University of Political Science and Law, majoring in law, and interned in a court, a procuratorate, at a law firm and a corporate legal department, she decided to become a procurator, which she says embodies the ideals of fairness and justice.

In 2011, Gu was assigned to Qingdong Farm to engage in prosecution work for two years. The prison work gave her a chance to look at criminal procedures and understand the system better.

"A case does not end the moment a judge strikes the hammer in a courtroom. It is really only over when the sentence is completed, including if the offender is paroled or given probation, that his or her community correction is completed," Gu says. "The real effect is actually more reflected by whether the person can smoothly return to society."

During her work there she noticed some young offenders had experienced deviant behavior or criminal wrongdoing as teenagers and she started to think why punishment of children can't effectively prevent recidivism.

"It is clear that punishment only punishes them for the mistakes they have made, but the lack of psychological correction and behavior modification is a hidden danger for them to make mistakes again," Gu says, adding that children are not miniatures of adults.

"If through the whole process of criminal proceedings, the offender can be rehabilitated, the meaning of punishment might be fulfilled. From this point of view, the goal of criminal proceeding is not only about punishment, but also a kind of education for one to reform himself or herself," Gu says.