降低刑責年齡(jiàngdī xínzé niánlíng): Lower the age of criminal responsibility

A 16-year-old middle school student is suspected of killing a family of three using cruel means. The youngest victim was only 6 years old. The case, along with reports of several incidents of campus violence recently, has provoked heated public debate again over whether the minimum age for criminal responsibility should be lower.

According to the current Criminal Law, juveniles under the full age of 14 are exempt from criminal responsibility no matter what crimes they commit, while juveniles that have reached the full age of 14 but are under the full age of 16 are exempt from criminal responsibility except for serious crimes such as murder, intentional injury that causes death, rape or drug trafficking.

Some people argue the minimum age of criminal responsibility should be lowered because juveniles under the full age of 14 are responsible for many serious crimes.

However, legal experts say the existing minimum age of criminal responsibility was determined after comprehensively considering the actual situation in China.

They argue the serious crimes committed by juveniles exposed by the media are only extreme cases, which are not representative of the behavior of youngsters. Lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility they say will not reduce the rate of juvenile delinquency.

The most effective way to solve this problem is to strengthen the supervision of juveniles and improve the guidance offered to them by schools, parents and society.