Organized by the China Association for the Prevention of Juvenile Crime, a seminar on strengthening efforts in preventing and handling juvenile delinquency was held at the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on Sept 18.
Chen Wenqing, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, addressed the seminar's opening ceremony, while Ying Yong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Prosecutor General of the SPP, presided over the opening ceremony.
Ying emphasized that, as the legal supervision and judicial organ tasked with ensuring the unified and correct implementation of laws, procuratorial authorities play a crucial role throughout the entire process of judicial protection for minors and shoulder important responsibility in preventing and handling juvenile delinquency.
Procuratorial authorities at all levels must have a comprehensive and accurate understanding of juvenile protection work, holding a zero-tolerance stance for crimes against minors while lawfully punishing juvenile offenders, he said.
Emphasis should be placed on the prevention and governance of juvenile delinquency, coordinating special prevention with general prevention, and strengthening the punishment, education, rehabilitation and remedy of juvenile offenders in accordance with the law, he added.
Ying pointed out that, for serious violent crimes committed by young offenders, cases that meet the conditions for approval of additional prosecution should be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
It is essential to coordinate and improve the graded intervention and correction mechanism for juvenile offenders, promote specialized education efforts, and decisively curb the rising trend of juvenile delinquency, he said.
Noting that preventing juvenile delinquency is a complex, systematic project that requires governance in accordance with the law, Ying called for efforts to address the issue at the source in a systematic and comprehensive way.
Procuratorial authorities should work together with various parties to promote the coordinated efforts of the "six major protections", namely families, schools, society, the internet, the government and the judiciary, he said.
Ying urged procuratorial authorities at all levels to effectively utilize the important theoretical research platform provided by the China Association for the Prevention of Juvenile Crime to consolidate a broad consensus on strengthening the prevention and governance of juvenile delinquency, thereby promoting a comprehensive effort to facilitate the healthy growth of minors.
The SPP will enhance its support for the association to better advance the integration of theoretical research on preventing juvenile delinquency with practical exploration, he added.
At the opening ceremony, Gong Ming, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Prosecutor General of the SPP, introduced the relevant information about the China Association for the Prevention of Juvenile Crime. Representatives, including prosecutors, judges, school principals and relevant experts, presented the current situation of strengthening the prevention and governance of juvenile delinquency from the perspectives of judicial work, educational practices and theoretical research based on their practical experiences.
Following the opening ceremony, discussions were held among officials from the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, the Committee on Social and Legal Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the Supreme People's Court (SPC), the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under State Council, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), and the China National Committee for the Wellbeing of the Youth.
Also present at the opening ceremony were Sun Xiaofang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee; Jiang Guangping, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Social and Legal Affairs of the CPPCC National Committee; Mao Zhonghua, Vice-President of the SPC; Chen Jie, Vice-Minister of Education; Wang Zhizhong, Vice-Minister of Public Security; Hu Haifeng, Vice-Minister of Civil Affairs; Li Mingzheng, Vice-Minister of Justice; Ma Liejian and Na Yanfang, members of the Secretariat of the ACWF; Lu Yong, Executive Deputy Director of the China National Committee for the Wellbeing of the Youth; NPC deputy Guan Wenhui; as well as Tong Jianming, Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and First Deputy Prosecutor General of the SPP; and Miao Shengming, a permanent member at the deputy-ministerial level of the Procuratorial Committee of the SPP.
