specific provision
1, a person who has reached the age of 16 commits a crime and should bear criminal responsibility, which is the age of full criminal responsibility.
2. A person who has reached the age of 14 and is under the age of 16 commits the crime of intentional homicide, intentional injury, serious injury or death, rape, robbery, drug trafficking, arson, explosion or throwing dangerous substances, and should bear criminal responsibility, that is, the relative age of criminal responsibility. People aged 14- 16 who do not commit the above crimes shall not be investigated for criminal responsibility.
3./kloc-People under the age of 0/4 do not bear criminal responsibility, no matter what kind of behavior is harmful to society, that is, the age at which there is no criminal responsibility at all.
4. A person who has reached the age of 14 but under the age of 18 commits a crime, and shall be given a lighter or mitigated punishment.
5. The age at the time of committing the crime is calculated according to the Gregorian calendar year, month and day. After my first birthday, I will be one year old from the next day.
6. Those who are under the age of 16 shall not be given criminal punishment, and their parents or guardians shall be ordered to discipline them. If necessary, it can also be taken in by the government for reeducation.
7, the trial of juvenile criminal cases, the age of the crime has not been ascertained, and it is related to whether criminal responsibility should be investigated and what kind of punishment should be imposed, it should be returned to the procuratorate for supplementary investigation.
8. People under 18 years of age at the time of committing the crime and women who are pregnant at the time of trial shall not be subject to the death penalty or suspended death sentence.
9, has reached the age of 75 intentional crime, can be given a lighter or mitigated punishment; Whoever commits a crime negligently shall be given a lighter or mitigated punishment.
10. The death penalty is not applicable to people who have reached the age of 75 at the time of trial, except those who cause death by particularly cruel means.
Age class
Determining when to begin to assume criminal responsibility is one of the important issues in criminal legislation, because the age of criminal responsibility is one of the main contents of investigating criminal responsibility. Judging from the provisions of China's criminal law, the age of criminal responsibility is divided into three stages:
First, people who have reached the age of 16 should bear criminal responsibility for committing crimes, which is the age of full criminal responsibility;
2. A person who has reached the age of 14 and is under the age of 16 commits eight crimes stipulated in the Criminal Law and shall bear criminal responsibility, which is the relative age of criminal responsibility;
Third, people under 14 years old will not bear criminal responsibility no matter what kind of behavior is harmful to society. This is the age of no criminal responsibility at all. China's criminal law stipulates such a criminal age in order to effectively care for the healthy growth of children. When they have harmful behaviors, they should adhere to the policy of giving priority to education, supplemented by punishment, and give priority to education, reform and rescue. Even if a few people are to be punished, their purpose is to educate. Therefore, the current age of crime in China is not only scientific, but also reasonable.
Relative criminal responsibility
According to the second paragraph of Article 17 of China's Criminal Law, "a person who has reached the age of 14 and is under the age of 16; Whoever commits the crime of intentional homicide, intentional injury, causing serious injury or death, rape, robbery, drug trafficking, arson, explosion, and throwing dangerous substances shall bear criminal responsibility. " Therefore, 14 years old and 16 years old are the age stages of relative criminal responsibility.
Reduce criminal responsibility
Paragraph 3 of Article 17 of China's Criminal Law stipulates: "A person who has reached the age of 14 and under 18 commits a crime shall be given a lighter or mitigated punishment." It can be seen that the age stage of reducing criminal responsibility is that the person is over 14 years old but under 18 years old. This is a statutory circumstance to give a lighter or mitigated punishment to juvenile delinquency, which embodies the spirit of criminal policy of combining leniency with severity in China's criminal law. Paragraph 4 of Article 17 of China's Criminal Law stipulates: "If a person under the age of 16 is not given criminal punishment, his parents or guardians shall be ordered to discipline him; It can also be taken care of by the government when necessary. " The reception education here is a safety measure for minors who are not criminally responsible.
Take full criminal responsibility
The first paragraph of Article 17 of China's Criminal Law stipulates: "A person who has reached the age of 16 shall bear criminal responsibility for committing a crime." It can be seen that reaching the age of 16 is the age stage with full criminal responsibility.
Time identification
In criminal trials, it is usually found that the age of the defendant has little to do with the handling of the case, such as adult defendants, but in cases involving juvenile crimes, it is particularly important to accurately identify the age, which is related to whether the defendant should be investigated for criminal responsibility, whether the punishment should be lightened or mitigated, and even whether the death penalty should be applied.
written proof
Documentary evidence includes household registration certificate, birth certificate, epidemic prevention and health care card, student status card, etc. Can be used as a basis for determining the age of the defendant. But in practice, sometimes it can't accurately reflect the true age of the defendant. In some areas, especially in rural areas, due to inadequate household registration management, the birth certificates issued by hospitals are not standardized, and some parents change their children's ages accordingly in order to facilitate enrollment in the army. The age of criminal responsibility stipulated in the Criminal Law shall be calculated according to the Gregorian calendar. In rural areas, when some parents declare their children's household registration, the date of birth is the lunar calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar, which brings about the difference in age determination. How to solve the above problems, generally speaking, the age recorded on a person's epidemic prevention and health care card is more objective and true, because once a person is born, an epidemic prevention and health care file will be established, and the stage and time on the epidemic prevention and health care card will be truthfully recorded. For example, in a theft case tried by the court in February 2002, the date of birth on the defendant's household registration management card was 1984+00, which was also confirmed by the prosecution. At the trial, the defendant claimed to have been born in the lunar calendar 1984+00, and found 65438+. According to the law, if the defendant is under the age of 18 at the time of trial, he shall inform his legal representative and his appointed or entrusted defender to participate in the proceedings. After the recess, he will make supplementary verification. According to the testimony of relevant witnesses and the date of birth recorded on the defendant's civil air defense insurance card, it is determined that the defendant was born one month after the lunar calendar 1984 10, and the defendant's legitimate rights and interests have been fully protected. Therefore, when determining the age of the defendant according to documentary evidence, it cannot be generalized. If there is any objection, it should be determined in combination with other evidence.
Witness testimony
In the case that some documentary evidence is not available or flawed, the defendant can be identified through his confession and witness testimony. For example, in some rural areas, children's household registration cannot be implemented due to backward family planning management and over-family planning, and they belong to "black households". In some places, there are frequent population movements, especially those engaged in ship transportation, who are on board all the year round, and the household registration declaration is not timely, or others declare it on their behalf, which may cause differences in age determination. Therefore, when documentary evidence cannot be identified, it can be identified through witness testimony. Which witness's testimony is more objective and true? Generally speaking, the testimony of midwives, parents of neighbors born in the same month as the defendant, parents and relatives of the defendant is more reliable. If it does not contradict other evidence or is confirmed by other evidence, it can be accepted. But not all the witness testimony can confirm the age of the defendant, so it should be analyzed and determined in detail. For example, in a case of picking fights, the defendant reported a date of birth, the household registration certificate was also the date of birth, and the witness testimony submitted by the defender was also the date of birth. After investigation, the defendant was delivered by a midwife at home, and his parents said that his birth date was changed for the convenience of entering school when he declared his household registration. Relevant witnesses also confirmed that the defendant was under the age of 18. Because there are many doubts in this case, the judge did not despise the witness's testimony. On the contrary, he investigated the parents of children who were neighbors of the defendant and were born in the same month of the same year, and found that they did not agree with the testimony of witnesses. Later, he took the defendant's insurance card and confirmed that the defendant was 18 years old when he committed the crime. Therefore, when using witness testimony and defendant's confession, we should consider it comprehensively in order to make a correct judgment.
Evaluation conclusion
With the progress of modern advanced science and technology, it has become possible to accurately identify a person's age according to the specific laws of his growth and development. Common identification includes bone age identification, tooth identification and so on. Whether the appraisal conclusion can determine the age of criminal responsibility, the Supreme People's Procuratorate's "Reply on whether" bone age appraisal "can be used as evidence to determine the age of criminal responsibility" makes the following provisions. If the criminal suspect does not give his real name and address and his age is unknown, he may entrust a bone age appraisal or other scientific appraisal. After examination, the appraisal conclusion can accurately determine the age of the criminal suspect at the time of committing the crime and can be used as evidence to judge the age of the criminal suspect. If the expert conclusion cannot accurately identify the age of the criminal suspect at the time of committing the crime, and the expert conclusion shows that the age of the criminal suspect is above or below the age of criminal responsibility stipulated in the Criminal Law, it should be handled with caution.
Handling principle
1. If it does not involve whether to pursue criminal responsibility, it shall be deemed that it has not reached the legal age of criminal responsibility.
2, involving whether it has reached the age of eighteen, it shall be deemed as under eighteen.
3. Although the exact date of the defendant's birth or the date of committing the alleged crime has not been ascertained, there is evidence that the defendant was 14 years old, 16 years old, or 18 years old when committing the alleged crime, he shall be convicted and punished according to law.