New procedures and dispositions for 18 and 19 years old To amend the Juvenile Law Outline of the Legal Legislation August 6 16:11

A legal council section discussing whether the juvenile law's target age should be reduced to less than 18 years of age in line with the reduction of adult age. , Clarified that new procedures and dispositions will be established. On the other hand, whether or not to keep the target age of protection below the current age of 20 "is left to future legislative processes."

The Legislative Council is discussing whether the target age for juvenile law protection should be reduced to under 18 years of age in line with the reduction of adult age next year, and at the meeting of the section held on the 6th, the outline for the compilation is Was shown.

As part of this, as a new procedure and disposition for 18-year-old and 19-year-old people, the family court will, in principle, expand the scope of cases to be sent back to the public prosecutor.

In addition, if prosecuted, it will be possible to report information that can be presumed to be the real name or the person himself.

On the other hand, regarding whether to maintain the target age of protection below the current age of 20, “In view of the fact that the age categories and names are required to take into account the national consciousness and the common sense of society, It is reasonable to leave it to the examination."

The Legislative Council will discuss this issue in the future, and the Ministry of Justice aims to submit an amendment to the Juvenile Law to the ordinary Diet session next year.

Regarding the juvenile law, last month, the ruling party's work team kept the target age protected by the juvenile law below the current age of 20, while the 18-year-old and 19-year-old were basically subject to cases of reverse transfer from the family court. We have decided to expand it.

History of the Juvenile Law Reform Discussion

The Juvenile Law establishes special procedures that are different from those of adults, such as a family court investigating the crime of a boy under the age of 20, and emphasizes "healthy development" rather than "punishment."

Focusing on the boy's recovery, it is forbidden to report the boy's real name or information that can be presumed to be the person himself on TV, newspapers, or publications.

On the other hand, the revision of the Civil Code will reduce the adult age from 20 to 18 in April next year.

In 2017, the Ministry of Justice consulted with the Legislative Council to determine whether the juvenile law's age should be reviewed, and the court, the prosecution, the lawyer's three lawyers and academics, and the media and victims of the juvenile case. The bereaved families have been discussing.

While a debate in the legal council's subcommittee says that "the juvenile law is applied when a crime is committed while the crime is committed, it cannot be understood by the people," some argue that it should be lowered. Then, there was an opinion against the reduction, saying that "the current Juvenile Law is functioning effectively and no change is necessary."

In addition, various opinions on and against the various parties involved in the juvenile case were submitted one after another.

Among them, a group of former directors of the Juvenile Training School opposed the reduction of the juvenile law application age and the reporting of real names of boys, saying that "it will stamp the life when the real name is reported and it will cause a life to fall."

On the other hand, an organization made up of the survivors of a victim of a juvenile case called for a reduction in the applicable age, saying, "Because the right to vote is given, it is necessary to be aware of the responsibility of being punished, which leads to deterrence of crime."

Against this backdrop, a work team established by the LDP and Komeito parties last month summarized the policy of expanding the scope of cases to be back-conducted from the family court by keeping the age under the juvenile law under the current age of 20. It was.

On the other hand, according to the skeleton compiled by the legal council section on the 6th, if boys aged 18 and 19 were charged with serious crimes, it is possible to report information that can be presumed to be the real name or the person himself. I decided.

The real name coverage of the boy, which has been banned until now, will be reviewed, and it is likely that it will cause further debate in the future.

Recovery Assistance Opposes Real Name Coverage

Those who have helped the boy recover are opposed that real-name reporting hinders recovery.

The company that operates a gas station in Kitakyushu has hired more than 150 boys who have left the Juvenile Training Center as store clerks to support their recovery.

This year, a 16-year-old boy who had been working since June was arrested for suspicion of property damage and was in the Juvenile Training Center for 15 years from the age of 15.

Regarding the real name coverage of 18 and 19 year old boys, the boy said, "If you get a real name, you will be seen as a criminal by people around you, and it will be difficult for you to find employment and life. In my case, I was also protected by the Juvenile Law, so I gave my name. Since I can work normally without it, it is better not to be reported by real name."

Regarding recovery, he said, "I don't want to go back to the juvenile school again. I'm reassured that there are people who support me and my colleagues around me listen to me, so I will continue to do my best."

Yoshihiro Noguchi, the chairman of the company that runs gas stations, said, "When the boys are about to return to society and have their real names openly, they will be exposed to prejudice, which will have an impact. Since boys have little experience in the real world, it will take some time to recover, but it is important to continue to believe and support them. In order for boys to live with hope, we want people to avoid real name reporting." I am.

Former investigator of the family court "I want you to be cautious about reporting your real name."

Yukio Ito, a former investigator of the family court who has faced many boys such as in charge of juvenile referees, said about the 18-year-old and 19-year-old boy's real name report ``The 18-year-old and 19-year-old boys are still immature However, since the foundation of life is also fragile, once the real name is reported, the world in which it lives is considerably narrowed, which may make it difficult to recover. Therefore, I want you to be careful about your real name coverage."

“I would like to have a basis for thinking about why crimes have occurred in society and what society needs, but in today's society there are only feelings of bashing perpetrators, especially the spread of information on the Internet. If the real name is reported in such a situation, it may only eliminate or discriminate the boy,” he said.

Bereaved family of boy crime victims "become a deterrent to crime"

Mr. Ruriko Takeru, who lost the eldest son of 16 years old in a fatal injury case by a boy in 1996 and is the representative of the "Party of Victims of Victims of Crime," said about the real name reports of boys 18 and 19 years old. Boys are well aware that they are protected by the Juvenile Law and have no name or face, so if they do something bad, be treated like an adult and clearly show that they have a face and name. I think it should be a deterrent to crime. I think it should be a message that by the age of 18, you are an adult, responsible, and never commit a crime."

Then, regarding future discussions, "I would like you to think that if your important person had an incident and the perpetrator was a boy. At that time, it would be a wonderful law that was saved by this law. I want you to do that, and to that end, I want to appeal to the victims' current situation."

Real name coverage of boys

There are no penalties for prohibiting real name reporting under the Juvenile Law.

In the cruel cases of boys, the issue of reporting real names has been debated by reporting the real names and photos of the boys whose weekly magazines have been arrested.

In the 1997 serial killing of children in Kobe City, a photo of a 14-year-old former boy at the time when Shinchosha's photo weekly magazine was arrested was posted, stopped selling at bookstores in various places, and browsed in the library The movement to stop is spread.

Also, in the case of the mother and child murder case in Hikari City, Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1999, a book was published in which the real name and facial photograph of an 18-year-old ex-boy was published.

A former boy filed a lawsuit against the author to stop the publication and compensate for it, but "It is illegal to publish the real name and face photo even if the juvenile law is considered considering the high social interest etc. "I can't say," and the court has confirmed that the book has been published and that it has no liability.