On the morning of May 9, 2020, the civil action of this case was held in the People's Court of Shahekou District, Dalian. The victim's mother said that she was on the verge of collapse every day while waiting for the trial, and now she is finally in court. He hopes to get the apology and compensation she deserves, and also hopes that the state can lower the age of criminal responsibility.
The appearance of this incident is like a fuse. In addition, the frequent juvenile delinquency cases in recent years, such as the case of killing the mother of a boy of 0/2 years old in Hunan, the case of dismembering a classmate of a pupil of 0/3 years old in/kloc, and the case of rape and dismembering a corpse of a junior high school student in Fujian, have aroused many concerns, making the issue of whether the age of criminal responsibility should be lowered once again the focus of discussion.
According to statistics, at present, juvenile delinquency accounts for more than 70% of all crimes in China, and juvenile delinquency is obviously younger. This reflects a very serious social phenomenon: more and more minors begin to use loopholes in the law to commit their own criminal acts, and people are constantly questioning the formulation of relevant laws.
In terms of criminal law norms, criminals under the age of 14 shall not be investigated for criminal responsibility. However, these violent crimes that endanger others' personal lives and lives make people wonder: Is the provision on the age of criminal responsibility protecting or "conniving" minors?
In fact, the dispute about the age of criminal offence has never stopped, and it was discussed as early as 1988. The two sides are at loggerheads, objectively speaking, each has its own reasons.
After consulting relevant information, it can be summarized as follows:
The age of criminal responsibility should be lowered;
1. thus increasing the illegal cost, which can not only improve the deterrent power of the law, but also play a better preventive effect.
With the improvement of economy and living standard, teenagers are becoming more and more precocious. They already have the ability to distinguish right from wrong and control personal behavior, and should be responsible for their major criminal acts.
3. If we don't pursue this kind of crime just because we haven't reached the age of criminal responsibility, it may not only lead to more crimes of the same type, but also lead to "evil rebellion" because it is not enough to appease the victims.
4./kloc-It is also a crime for people under 0/4 to violate the criminal law, which cannot be ignored.
5. The original intention of setting the minimum age of criminal responsibility is to better protect minors, but in reality, the judicial effect violates this original intention to some extent.
The age of criminal responsibility should not be lowered;
1. It is very complicated to prevent and contain juvenile delinquency, and prevention is the primary purpose for comprehensive treatment.
With the development of society, minors are physically mature, but not necessarily psychologically. In this case, it is not advisable to let people with immature minds bear criminal responsibility.
After being labeled as a criminal, it is difficult for minors to return to society and it is easy to give up on themselves. The negative effects of punishment are obvious, and they may even commit crimes again.
No matter how to reduce the age of criminal responsibility, there will always be fish that slip through the net. It is unrealistic to just resort to lowering the age, which is not in line with the trend of the world rule of law in which punishment is mitigated.
5. Law can't keep up with current events, and emotional legislation is not the best way to solve the problem.
Previously, I chose to support the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility based on the information of all parties on social platforms.
Now that I have a more comprehensive understanding of the views of all parties, I still think that the age of criminal responsibility should be lowered and prevention should be given priority.
In fact, I personally think that there is no age of criminal responsibility for major criminal cases, such as intentional homicide and rape, but because this idea may not be acceptable at present, I will not talk about it for the time being.
From the legal point of view, the setting of the minimum age of criminal responsibility is comprehensive, and whether minors are mature enough and have the ability to identify and control things are all necessary factors. But this itself is inevitably vague, and at the same time, with the obvious phenomenon of puberty precocity, the loopholes are becoming more and more obvious.
Cai, who was only 13 years old in Dalian's intentional homicide case, was precocious, with a height of 1 m 7 and a weight of more than 70 kg. She had followed and harassed many young women. Judging from the above factors, doesn't he understand the nature and significance of his behavior? Isn't it enough to show the urgency of lowering the age of criminal responsibility?
There are always people who say that it is meaningless to lower the age by one or two years. Why do you only think of punishment and not prevention? However, the gap between one year and two years includes millions of people, and lowering the age of criminal responsibility is more for restraint than punishment.
I think many people's anger at juvenile delinquency comes partly from the crime itself and partly because these criminals are still shouting "You can't sentence me to death, I'm not 14 years old" after making mistakes.
The defects of the system of detention and reeducation and the perfection of the blank in the field of binding protection and punishment of minors in China need a long process and the cooperation and support of many parties. Therefore, lowering the age of criminal responsibility will be suggested.
We often talk about protecting minors, but when the law emphasizes the forgiveness and protection of juvenile criminals, what about the protection of juvenile victims?
In the ideal, the protection of juvenile offenders should be "wide but not vertical", but the ideal can only be ideal. Reality often only focuses on forgiveness, which leads to the misinterpretation of the law today: "As long as I am a minor, it doesn't matter what I do."
For juvenile offenders, the current law is based on the principle of "education first, punishment second". Teenagers are the flowers of the motherland, so for those who make mistakes, we should correct their wrong thoughts and behaviors, teach them correct values, and let them serve the motherland.
But what about the injured minors?
It's unfair to them.
They may get some financial compensation, or nothing, but they will see the people who have hurt themselves reappear unscathed.
Moreover, if they are not physically and mentally hurt, if they are still alive, they can grow up healthily and safely, enter the society and strive to live a colorful life.
I very much agree with the words of teacher Luo Xiang: Humanitarianism can easily focus on falling in love with abstract people and give up responsibility for specific people, seemingly caring for children, but giving up responsibility for protecting victims.
Indeed, the effectiveness of the law is always limited, and we can't pin all our hopes on the law. However, in line with the changes of the times, I think the age of criminal responsibility should be appropriately reduced.
The intention is not to punish, but to hope that the vicious wounding cases of 12- 14 years old will not happen again frequently. This lower limit is to warn teenagers not to make mistakes, and when they do make mistakes, they will not submit to it, leaving the pain only to the victims and their families.
Of course, prevention is also necessary.
Weak awareness of the rule of law is an important factor affecting juvenile delinquency, which is related to family education and school education.
Socio-economic factors and bad network culture also have an impact on minors, so guidance is extremely important, which is another topic.
Finally, another question is raised: regarding the age of criminal responsibility, some people think that criminal responsibility can be pursued at present, but after the legal age. Combining the pros and cons of the debate on whether the age of criminal responsibility should be lowered, which view do you agree with?