Protection for young offenders

Comment on "Crime rules 'hard to follow'" (China Daily, Feb 20)

As a long-time China Daily reader and juvenile justice worker with an NGO, I was so happy that you covered the issue of juvenile justice. Testimony to the increased attention being paid to the rights of this vulnerable group of children, whose journey through the justice system throws up unique risks.

Like other youth justice practitioners, while I applaud the revision of the national Criminal Procedural Law, a big step forward for the reform of youth justice in China, I also recognize that it is critical that the law is enforced to protect children.

Panlong district of Kunming, where I have worked for nearly 10 years in a youth justice project, is one of the first places in the mainland, besides Beijing and Shanghai, to pilot judicial protection for young offenders. Save the Children and its local partners involve appropriate adults in the police interrogation of children and conduct social background investigations to facilitate the diversion of children from formal justice and custodial systems. It is hugely gratifying to see many of the practices and principles we were able to demonstrate, reflected in the newly revised criminal law.

We are now spreading the Panlong model to other locations including Beijing and third-tier cities in Yunnan province. Critical success factors for the project include seeking support from the local government, as well as mobilizing an interdisciplinary and multi-departmental mechanism across law enforcement departments and the social work sector. Based on our 10-year practical experiences, I believe this is replicable in middle and western parts of China like Changsha.

Jiang Min, manager of the Youth Justice Programme, Save the Children, via e-mail

(China Daily 02/26/2013 page9)