More recent draft available here:
【Comment Period】through 11/29
Table of Contents
Chapter II: Ordinary Prevention
Chapter III: Intervention in Negative Conduct
Chapter IV: Corrections of Serious Negative Conduct
Chapter V: Prevention of New Crimes
Chapter VI: Legal Responsibility
Chapter VII: Supplemental Provisions
P.R.C. Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (Draft Revisions)
Chapter I: General Provisions
Article 1: This Law is drafted so as to ensure juvenile's physical and psychological health, cultivate juvenile's good conduct and effectively prevent juvenile crime.
Article 2: The prevention of juvenile crime is to be based on education and protection, and begin in childhood, for the prompt prevention, intervention, and correction of juveniles' negative behavior and illegal and criminal conduct.
Article 3: Prevention of juvenile crime is to be comprehensively addressed under the organization and leadership of the people's governments at all levels.
Relevant government departments, judicial organs, people's organizations, relevant social organizations, schools, families, residents' committees, villagers committees, and so forth, are to jointly participate, but bear their own responsibilities, and mutually cooperate in efforts to successfully prevent juvenile delinquency, and create a positive social environment for the physically and psychologically healthy development of juveniles.
Article 4: The duties of all levels of people's government for preventing juvenile crime are:
(1) to formulate plans for prevention of juvenile crime;；
(2) to organize and coordinate efforts to prevent juvenile crime by relevant government departments for public security, education, civil affairs, culture and tourism, market regulation, internet information, health and hygiene, the press, publishing, radio, film and television, judicial administration, and other social organizations organizations;
(3) to provide policy support and funding safeguards for efforts on the prevention of juvenile crime;
(4) to conduct inspections of the implementation of this Law and work plans;
(5) to summarize and disseminate the experience gained in efforts to prevent juvenile crime, and to set up and commend advanced examples.
(6) other work on the prevention of juvenile crime provided for by laws and regulations.
Article 5: Public security organs, people's procuratorates, people's courts, and judicial administrative organs shall have specialized personnel that have gone through professional training and are familiar with the physical and psychological characteristics of minors, or specialized institutions, responsible for efforts to prevent juvenile crime.
Article 6: The Communist Youth League, women’s federations, trade unions, Disabled Persons Federations, Working Committees for the Care of the Next Generation, youth federations, students’ federations, young pioneers’ organizations, and other relevant social organizations, are to assist all levels of people's governments, people's courts, and people's procuratorates in completing efforts on the prevention of juvenile crime, and provide and cultivate social support services for the prevention of juvenile crime.
Article 7: The state is to foster and develop relevant social organizations and social work service establishments, and encourage and lead them to participate in relevant efforts to prevent juvenile crime, giving policy supports in accordance with law and strengthening management.
Article 8: Prevention of juvenile crime shall combine research on physical and psychological characteristics of minors at different ages, strengthening education in puberty, psychological care, psychological corrections, and crime prevention.
Article 9: The state encourages and supports the establishment of courses and specializations in prevention of juvenile crime, the cultivation of talent, scientific research, and carrying out international exchanges and cooperation.
Chapter II: Ordinary Prevention
Article 10: Education for minors on ideals, morality, the rule of law, as well as in patriotism, collectivism and socialism with Chinese characteristics, shall be strengthened Juveniles who have reached the age of receiving compulsory education shall, while receiving the education mentioned above, be educated for the prevention of crimes.
The goal of education for the prevention of juvenile crime is enhancing juveniles' conception of law, making them understand the harm done to themselves, their families and society by illegal and criminal actions, as well as the legal responsibility to be borne; establishing the importance of obeying rules of discipline and laws in preventing themselves from breaking laws and committing crimes, and strengthening capacity for self-control.
Article 11: Parents and other guardians of minors bear direct responsibility for educating minors on the prevention of juvenile crime, and where the minors have psychological or behavioral abnormalities, shall educate, guide, admonish, and help them in making corrections, and must not leave it unattended or forfeit guardianship duties.
Article 12: The administrative departments for education and schools shall incorporate the education for prevention of crimes into schools' education and teaching plans as the rule of law educational content, and shall combine the common and frequently-occurring juvenile criminal conduct, to conduct targeted educate for juveniles of different ages on the prevention of crimes.
Schools shall, in light of actual conditions, hold activities with the prevention of juvenile crime as their primary content.
Article 13: Schools shall hire full-time or part-time teachers for legal education. Schools may engage after-school legal tutors, where conditions permit.
Article 14: Schools shall appoint full-time or part-time teachers on mental health education, carrying out mental health education and establishing mental health screening and early intervention mechanisms, to prevent and resolve student's psychological and behavioral issues.
Schools discovering that minor students have serious psychological disorders or psychological illnesses, shall immediately notify their parents or other guardians and promptly transfer them to a compassionate treatment department.
Article 15: Schools shall make routine safety management strict, establishing systems for the prevention and control of student bullying, promptly investigating risks that might lead to the occurrence of student bulling.
Schools are the lead in addressing incidents of student bullying. Schools shall ask the public security organs to participate in the handling of serious bullying conduct were the circumstances are more heinous, and there is obvious physical or psychological harm caused to the bullied minors.
Article 16: As needed, administrative departments for education may use means such as procurement of services to hire full-time or part-time social workers, and schools may hir social workers, as needed, to be stationed in the school either long-term or periodically, to coordinate moral education, rule of law education, and mental health education, to participate in handling student bullying incidents and other negative conduct, and to provide services to students that need it.
Article 17: The administrative departments for education and schools shall hold various forms of activities such as lectures, discussions and trainings, to introduce effective educational methods targeting the physical and psychological characteristics of juveniles in different ages, and to guide teachers and the parents or other guardians or minors in how to effectively prevent juvenile crime.
When schools educate students for prevention of crimes, they shall inform the minors' parents and other guardians of the education plans, and the minors' parents or other guardians shall carry out education aimed at specific conditions, along with the school plan.
Article 18: The administrative departments for education shall make the efficacy of education for prevention of juvenile crime an important item in the content of evaluations of the schools' work.
Article 19: All levels of people's government and their relevant departments, people's courts, people's procuratorates, communist youth leagues, young pioneers, women's federations, working committees for the care of the next generation, and so forth, shall combine actual conditions and organize or hold multiple forms of rule of law publicity activities on the prevention of juvenile crime.
Article 20: Residents' committees and villagers' committees shall actively carry out targeted rule of law publicity activities on the prevention of juvenile crime, assist public security organs in efforts to successfully maintain security in the areas surrounding primary and secondary schools, understand the circumstances of minors in the jurisdiction who have serious negative conduct, and the academic or employment circumstances of minors in the temporary populations, and actively foster community social organizations provision of professional services for the prevention of juvenile crime.
Article 21: Children's centers, youth activity centers and other places for out-of-school activities shall make education for prevention of juvenile crime an important part of their work and carry out various forms of related publicity and education.
Article 22: For juveniles that are 16 years old and are preparing for employment, vocational education and training institutions and employers shall include legal knowledge and education for prevention of crimes in vocational training content.
Article 23: Juveniles shall obey laws and regulations and norms of public morality, build awareness of self-respect, self-discipline and self-improvement, and increase their ability to distinguish between right and wrong and to protect themselves, conscientiously resisting all kinds of negative behavior, as well as the enticement and harm of llegal and criminal conduct.
Chapter III Intervention in Negative Behavior
Article 24: "Negative conduct" as used in this Law refers to the following conduct that is not conducive to minors' physical and psychological health, which grows more serious if there is no intervention:
(1) smoking and consumption of alcohol;
(2) repeatedly skipping class or school;
(3) not returning at night or running away from home without reason;
(4) internet obsession to the point of impacting normal studies and life;
(5) Interacting with persons in society that have negative habits, organizing or participating in groups that carry out negative conduct;
(6) entering venues that laws or regulations provide are not suitable for minors;
(7) Participating in gambling or cover gambling, or participating in feudal superstitions, or other such negative activities;
(8) Viewing or listening to readings, audiovisual works, or online information that contains sex, pornography, violence, terrorist, or extremist content;
(9) Other conduct that is harmful to minors' physically and psychologically healthy growth.
Article 25: Minors' parents or other guardians shall promptly discover and stop their negative conduct, and strengthen discipline.
Article 26: Schools shall strengthen education and management of minors exhibiting negative conduct, but must not discriminate.
Where the circumstances are serious or they refuse to make corrections, the school may give penalties based on the circumstances, and concurrently employ one or more of the following disciplinary measures:
(1) have the rule of law teacher or tutor give them a lecture;
(2) require them to comply with certain behavior norms;
(3) require them to participate in education on certain special topics;
(4) have social workers or other professional personnel conduct aid and education.
Article 27: Where secondary or primary school students skip class or school, the school shall promptly contact their parents or other guardians to understand the situation.
Article 28: Where juveniles do not return at night without reason, their parents or other guardians, or the boarding school they are in, shall promptly search for them, or request help from the public security organs.
Those allowing a juvenile to stay overnight shall first obtain the consent of the juvenile's parents or other guardians, or promptly inform the parents or other guardians, or the school concerned, within 24 hours, or report to a public security organ.
Article 29: Where minors leave home, their parents or other guardians shall promptly look for them, or request help from the public security organs.
Article 30: For minors that skip class, don't return at night, leave home, or are on the streets, public security organs, management of public venues, and others that discover them or receive a report shall employ effective protective measures, and public security organs inform their parents or other guardians, or their school, to take them back; and when necessary, shall escort them home. Where there is no way to contact their parents or other guardians, the public security organs, management of public venues, and others shall escort them to children's aid and protection institutions for aid and protection.
Article 31: Where minors' parents or other guardians, and schools, find that minors organized or participated in gangs that perpetrate negative activities, they shall promptly stop them. Where they find that the gangs have illegal or criminal conduct, they shall report the matter to public security organs.
Article 32: Minors must not be instigated, coerced, or enticed to perpetrate negative conduct by any person, and conditions must not be provided to minors to perpetrate negative conduct.
Where minors' parents or other guardians, or schools, find that juveniles were instigated, coerced, or lured into perpetrating negative conduct, they shall report it to the public security organs. After the public security organs receive reports, they shall promptly investigate and handle it in accordance with law, and where the physical safety of minors is endangered, they shall promptly take effective measures to protect their physical safety.
Article 33: Public security police substations, residents' committees, and villagers' committees shall employ methods such as home visits, written notices, and counseling by social work service establishments, for minors perpetrating negative conduct in their jurisdictional area, and shall urge their parents or other guardians to correctly perform their guardianship duties to effectively stop the negative conduct.
Chapter IV: Corrections of Serious Negative Conduct
Article 34: "Serious negative conduct as used in this Law refers to the following illegal conduct that seriously harms society:
(1) group fights, chasing or blocking others, or forcibly taking and demanding, or arbitrarily damaging or occupying public or private property;
(2) Illegal possession of a firearm, munitions, or crossbows and daggers that the law provides are controlled items;
(3) Taunting or beating others, or intentionally harming others physically;
(4) stealing, taking, robbing, or intentionally damaging public or private property;
(5) spreading pornagraphic publications or audio-video products, or other such information;
(6) prostitution, soliciting prostitutes, or conducting pornographic performances;
(7) Ingesting or injecting drugs, or providing drugs to others;
(8) participating in gambling for larger stakes;
(9) other actions that do serious harm to society.
Article 35: Where minors have serious negative conduct, the public security organs shall promptly stop it and address it, and order their parents or other guardians and schools to cooperate with each other to tighten discipline.
Public security organs may concurrently employ one or more of the following educational corrective measures for minors with serious negative conduct who cannot lawfully be punished:
(1) give reprimands;
(2) order formal apologies or compensation for losses;
(3) order a statement of remorse;
(4) order that they must report on their state of mind and activities for a certain period of time;
(5) order them to obey certain behavioral norms, or that they must not carry out certain conduct, have contact with certain persons, or leave or go to certain locations;
(6) order that they accept psychological counseling, corrections, or other treatment;
(7) Order that they accept care and assistance from a juvenile social work service establishment;
(8) order that they comply with other requirements for advancing juveniles' obedience and compliance with law.
Education and correction decisions provided for in the preceding paragraph that are made by the public security organs shall be necessary for achieving the goals of education and corrections, and correspond to the facts, nature, circumstances, degree of harm, and personal dangerousness of the minors' serious negative conduct.
Article 36: Where the circumstance are slight for minor students' acts such as fighting or taunting others, and forcibly taking, demanding, or stealing small amounts of property, the public security organs may have the schools handle it in accordance with the provisions of Chapter III of this Law on negative conduct.
Article 37: Minors whose serious negative conduct has vile circumstances, or who refuse to cooperate and accept education and corrections measures provided for in article 35 of this Law, may be sent to specialized schools to have corrections and education conducted.
Specialized schools may employ necessary restrictive measures against minors with serious negative conduct, and carry out targeted education and corrections.
Article 38: For minors that need to be sent to specialized schools for education and corrections, the public security organs may submit a recommendation to the administrative departments for education; parents or other guardians or schools may submit applications to the administrative departments for education.
Based on the recommendations or applications, the administrative departments for education are to organize experts in education and psychological, juvenile social workers, and other professionals to conduct an assessment, and make a decision based on the assessment.
Where parents or other guardians are not satisfied with the decision, they may lawfully submit an administrative reconsideration or administrative litigation.
Article 39: Specialized schools shall conduct an assessment of enrolled students education and corrections situations every semester. For those that evaluations show are suited for return to enrollment in ordinary schools, the specialized schools shall submit a written recommendation for the return to enrollment at an ordinary school to the original decision-making organ. After hearing the opinions of the minor student, their parents or other guardians, and their former school, the original decision-making organ is to make a decision on whether to return them to enrollment in an ordinary school.
Where the decision is to return them for enrollment in ordinary school, their former school must not refuse to accept them; where there are special circumstances, making it inappropriate to return to the former school to continue study, the administrative departments for education are to arrange a transfer.
Chapter V: Prevention of New Crimes
Article 40: Public security and judicial organs handling cases of juvenile crimes shall conduct targeted rule of law education based on the minors' physical and psychological characteristics and the circumstances of the crimes.
People's courts hearing cases of juvenile crimes shall obey the principle of including education in trial; where finding that a minor defendant is guilty, after announcing the verdict, the collegiate panel and procurators and litigation participants in attendance shall jointly conduct education of the minor defendant.
Where the people's procuratorates decide not to prosecute juvenile criminal suspects, they shall carry out necessary education of the juvenile who is not being prosecuted.
Where participation of the minors' adult relatives other than their legal representatives, or their teachers, is beneficial to education or reform of minors, the people's courts or people's procuratorates may invite them to participate in education.
Article 41: During the period when juvenile offenders are serving criminal sentences, the enforcement organs shall strengthen rule of law education for them, and conduct vocational and technical training for them. For juvenile offenders who have not finished compulsory education, specialized schools are responsible for selecting and appointing teachers to undertake efforts on compulsory education, ensuring that the juveniles continue to receive compulsory education.
Article 42: Before the completion of the period in which the minors accept community corrections, the community corrections establishment shall submit a recommendation on their placement for aid and education; when the community corrections period is complete, the community corrections establishments shall inform them of relevant provisions on placement for aid and education, proper handover to the departments for aid and education work, implementation of aid and education, and resolving academic and employment issues.
Article 43: juvenile correctional facilities shall give advance notice to the parents or other guardians of minors being released at the completion of their sentence to arrive on time to receive them, and assist in the implementation of measures for placement for aid and education. Where they have no parents or other guardians, or there is no way to ascertain their parents or other guardians, the former enforcement organs shall give advance notice to the judicial administrative departments for the area of the minors' household registrations to organize relevant personnel to receive them on time, and the civil affairs departments for the people's governments at their place of household registration shall appropriately place the minors, and assist relevant department in implementing aid and education measures.
Article 44: Minors' parents and other guardians, and schools, residents' committees, or villagers' committees shall employ effective aid and education measures for minors whose period in community corrections or serving a sentence is complete, and assist the judicial organs in completing efforts on placements for aid and education.
Residents' committees and villagers' committees may hire retirees, volunteers, other persons with excellent thinking and character, upright manners, who are enthusiastic about the work of educating minors to assist in completing the efforts on placement for aid and education provided for in the preceding paragraph.
Article 45: Minors whose period of community corrections or serving a criminal sentence is complete are to enjoy equal rights with other juveniles in going back to school, advancement to higher grades, and in employment, and must not be discriminated against by any units and individuals.
Chapter VI: Legal Responsibility
Article 46: Where public security organs, people's procuratorates, and people's courts discover while handling a case that minors' parents or other guardians are not performing their guardianship duties, allowing minors to have negative conduct, illegal or criminal conduct, provided for in this law, they may reprimand them, order them to pay over a guarantee deposit, and to accept household education and guidance; and where they refuse to accept household education and guidance, confiscate the guarantee deposit, be given public security punishments by the public security organs, and have this recorded in the national social credit-reporting system; where failure to lawfully perform guardianship duties caused serious consequences, the relevant provisions of the Law on Protection of Minors may be followed to suspend or revoke their guardianship qualifications; and where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility is pursued in accordance with law.
Article 47: Where schools violate the provisions of this law, and do not perform duties on the prevention of juvenile crime, the administrative departments for education are to order that corrections be made in a certain time, and circulate criticism; where the circumstances are serious, sanctions are concurrently given to the directly responsible managers and other directly responsible personnel in accordance with law; where serious consequences are caused or a crime is constituted, criminal liability is to be pursued in accordance with law. Where teachers or staff instigate, coerce, or entice minors to perpetrate negative conduct, or where the teachers and staff are ill-mannered and a vile influence, and are not fit to work in a school, the administrative departments for education and the school shall dismiss or discharge them; and where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility is pursued in accordance with law.
Article 48: Where the institutions implementing education and corrections abuse or discriminate against minors, the minors and their parents or other guardians may submit an accusation or report to the public security organs. Where it constitutes a violation of public security management. public security organs are to give public security punishments in accordance with law;and where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility is pursued in accordance with law
Article 49: Where this Law is violated by discrimination or covert discrimination in areas such as returning to school, advancement in school, or employment, against minors with negative conduct, or illegal and criminal conduct, the competent departments are to order corrections; where a violation of public security administration is constituted, the public security organs are to give public security sanctions.
Article 50: Where the instigatation, coercion, or enticement of minors to perpetrate negative conduct or illegal and criminal conduct, or the provision of conditions for minors to perpetrate those behaviors, constitutes a violation of the administration of public security, the public security organs are to give public security sanctions; where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility is pursued in accordance with law
Article 51: Where state organs and their staff do not perform their legally-prescribed duties in efforts on the prevention of juvenile crime, ot abuse their authority, derelict their duties, or twist the law for personal gain, the directly responsible managers and other directly responsible personnel are to be given sanctions in accordance with law; where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility is pursued in accordance with law.
Chapter VII: Supplemental Provisions
Article 52: This law is to take effect on ______.
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