Ministry of Justice Forms 'TF for Realigning Age Criteria for Juvenile Offenders'... Cha Soon-gil Appointed as Team Leader

TF to Lower the Age of Juvenile Delinquents Under 14 Years Old

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is attending the Cabinet meeting held via video conference with the Sejong Government Complex at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 14th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Ministry of Justice has formed a task force (TF) to lower the age of criminal responsibility for juvenile offenders, currently set at under 14 years old.

On the 14th, the Ministry of Justice announced that it had established the "Task Force for Realigning the Age Criteria for Juvenile Offenders," involving the Prosecutor's Office, Crime Prevention Policy Bureau, Human Rights Bureau, and Correction Headquarters to update the age standard for juvenile offenders.

The team leader will be Cha Soon-gil, Director of Policy Planning at the Ministry of Justice (Judicial Research and Training Institute, 31st class).

The Ministry of Justice stated, "We plan to promptly prepare a legislative amendment to update the age criteria for juvenile offenders and comprehensively review measures to prevent the proliferation of repeat offenders, juvenile detention and correctional rehabilitation policies, as well as juvenile crime prevention and recidivism prevention strategies."

Article 9 of the Criminal Act (Criminal Minor) stipulates that "Acts committed by persons under the age of 14 shall not be punished," thereby not recognizing criminal responsibility for those under 14 years old.

Furthermore, Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the Juvenile Act (Subjects of Protection and Referral and Notification) states that "juveniles aged 10 or older but under 14 who commit acts violating penal laws" shall be tried as protective cases by the juvenile court.

These criminal minors, even if they commit crimes, receive protective measures such as community service or transfer to juvenile detention centers instead of criminal punishment.

Although this provision was created in line with the Juvenile Act’s focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment, voices calling for stronger penalties have grown louder as heinous juvenile crimes exploiting this have continued.

President Yoon Seok-yeol pledged during his presidential campaign to lower the upper age limit for juvenile offenders from the current under 14 years old to under 12 years old.

On the 8th, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon instructed a review of related matters to expedite the realignment of the age criteria for juvenile offenders during a weekly senior officials meeting at the Ministry of Justice.

The following day, when asked by reporters at the Government Complex Gwacheon, Minister Han explained the background, saying, "The purpose is to protect the public from increasingly violent juvenile crimes such as rape and robbery."

He also said at the time, "Minor offenses will continue to be handled by referral to the juvenile court as before," and added, "We will prepare carefully to ensure there are no concerns about creating criminal records from mistakes made at a young age."

Violent crimes committed by juvenile offenders have been steadily increasing. According to data from the National Police Agency on "Juvenile Offender Referrals to Juvenile Court over the Past Five Years," from 2017 to last year, 35,390 juvenile offenders who committed violent crimes such as murder, robbery, rape/sexual assault, arson, and theft were referred to juvenile court.

By year, the numbers have steadily increased from 6,014 in 2018 to 7,081 in 2019, 7,535 in 2020, and 8,474 in 2021.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.