Research on juvenile delinquents (juvenile delinquents) in Chinese criminal justice: Centered around legislative regulations and improvement measures of professional correctional education

Legislators have given high attention to the treatment of minors who have committed criminal acts but have not reached the age of criminal responsibility and are unable to receive criminal punishment. In recent years, China has experienced a series of malignant criminal cases caused by juvenile delinquency. Due to insufficient legal provisions, it is also difficult to regulate the criminal behavior of juvenile offenders. In this context, China lowered the age of individual criminal responsibility to 12 years old in 2021 through the Amendment to the Criminal Law(11), revised Article 17 (5) of the Criminal Law, introduced professional corrective education measures applicable to minors who have committed crimes. And revised the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency Law, determining professional corrective education as a protective disciplinary measure. These legislative amendments not only express China's position that it protects its citizens through special regulations on juvenile delinquents, but also demonstrate the diversity of criminal measures to eliminate the risks of juvenile delinquency and promote their im- provement through professional correctional education measures when criminal punishment is not feasible due to the special nature of juvenile delinquency in the new era. At present, the regulations on specialized corrective education have been determined by the Criminal Law and Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency Law. However, the Criminal Law only provides abstract and principled provisions on professional correctional education through one article, and the specific content is stipulated in the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency Law, but there are shortcomings in practical application, which need to be explored based on the problems. It is worth mentioning that the applicable rules for special corrective education are not yet perfect, and there are no clear provisions in the applicable conditions regarding the minimum applicable age and “when necessary”. The procedure adopts the model of “evaluation and approval by the special education guidance committee and joint decision by the education administrative department and public security organs”, but there are doubts about the rationality of this procedural provision. In this context, the paper attempts to propose an improvement plan for professional corrective education applicable to juvenile offenders in China's criminal justice system.