Photo: VCG

China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) revealed on Tuesday that four minors aged between 12 and 14 had been sentenced to 10 to 15 years recently. It came after a brutal bullying and murder case involving three 13-year-old suspects that drew public attention toward juvenile crime. The SPC also revealed an increase in juvenile crimes in recent years, with nearly 100,000 such cases reported in the last three years. 

Recently, the debate about holding minors aged 12 to 14 criminally responsible for murder and serious crimes has attracted widespread attention. The SPC said that a total of four cases involving minors aged 12 to 14 have been concluded recently, with four individuals sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison in accordance with the law.

On March 10, three suspects aged 13 were detained for suspected bullying and murder in Handan, North China's Hebei Province. The three suspects are all left-behind children, and the case triggered wide public discussion of juvenile crimes. 

The Supreme People's Procuratorate has reviewed and approved the prosecution of the three juvenile suspects, media reports said on April 8.

As the prevention of juvenile crime has become a major concern among the general public following several high-profile cases, the SPC emphasized that dealing with juvenile crime should not only involve punitive measures, but also education and rehabilitation.

Besides investigating the problem of juvenile delinquency at its source, it is also important to provide proper protection and guidance to minors, and to provide integrated criminal, civil and administrative protection.

According to the statement issued by the SPC on Monday, the situation of juvenile delinquency remains severe, and the issue of campus violence cannot be ignored. In the past three years, the number of juvenile delinquency cases has been on the rise. From 2021 to 2023, the people's courts concluded a total of 73,178 juvenile crime cases and sentenced 98,426 juvenile offenders, accounting for 2 percent to 2.5 percent of all criminal offenders during the same period.

The SPC said that sexual assault, harmful information on the internet and lack of family supervision are key factors in the rise of juvenile delinquency. The SPC said judges should remind parents who get divorced of their legal obligations to their children and warn them of the consequences of violating related laws, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.