China News Service, Beijing, March 7 (Xie Yanbing) Na Yanfang, director of the Ninth Procuratorate of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, pointed out in Beijing on the 7th that in 2021, procuratorial organs across the country will handle 4,676 new types of public interest litigation cases for the protection of minors, accounting for Compared with 70.5%, it involves the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors, online games, the safety of minors’ activity venues and facilities, the safety of campus perimeters, and the governance of emerging business formats such as on-demand theaters, e-sports hotels, and secret room script killing.
On the same day, the Supreme People's Procuratorate held a press conference on "Actively Fulfilling Public Interest Litigation Procuratorial Responsibilities to Protect the Lawful Rights and Interests of Minors in accordance with the Law", released the 35th batch of guiding cases of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and introduced the procuratorial organs' work on the protection of minors in public interest litigation.
Na Yanfang said at the press conference that in 2021, 6,633 public interest lawsuits for the protection of minors will be filed by procuratorial organs across the country, which is 4.2 times that of 2020 and 3.3 times that of 2018 and 2019 combined.
Among them, 1,957 public interest litigation cases in traditional fields such as food and drug safety were handled, accounting for 29.5%; 4,676 new types of public interest litigation cases were handled, accounting for 70.5%.
"In the performance of our duties, we found that the protection of minors still needs to be strengthened in many aspects." Na Yanfang said, for example, food and drug safety problems involving minors have occurred from time to time. Hotels, Internet cafes, bars, etc. have repeatedly banned minors in violation of regulations, and the violation of minors' personal information rights and interests is more prominent. Some businesses sell tobacco and alcohol to minors, and treat minors as personalities on the grounds that there is no explicit prohibition.
The guiding cases released on the same day involved network protection, tattoo management, management of places unsuitable for minors, and management of unlicensed kindergartens and surrounding campuses.
"Through these batches of cases, the necessary rule extraction and method summary will help to unify the understanding and refine the standards, guide the handling of similar cases, solve practical problems, and promote the more standardized and orderly development of the public interest litigation business of the juvenile protection procuratorate." Na Yanfang said.
Talking about the consideration of the next step, she revealed that the Supreme People's Procuratorate will study and formulate normative documents and guiding opinions related to the procuratorial work of juvenile public interest litigation, and guide the procuratorial organs in various places to improve the accuracy, standardization and effectiveness of the performance of their duties and cases.
At the same time, the Supreme People's Procuratorate will increase case guidance, continue to in-depth summarize the case handling experience in various places, and refine case handling rules and useful experiences that reflect the characteristics of the protection of minors.
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