Abstract:

Although lowering the statutory age of criminal responsibility reflects criminal law’s responsiveness to societal transformations, the supplementary newly-established prosecution approval procedures for young juvenile offenders may also risk violating the legitimate rights and interests of involved minors. It is imperative to rationally define the theoretical positioning of prosecution approval provisions and refine their operational mechanisms to minimize the risks of this legislative adjustment. The substantive criterion underpinning these provisions is criminal responsibility. Within this framework, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate’s prosecution approval authority should be confined to reviewing the criminal responsibility of young juvenile offenders, while the examination of other legal elements remains the responsibility of the handling judicial organs. Under the principle of human rights protection, the operational mechanism for the approval procedure must adhere to the following baselines: (1) Establishing novel supervision measures before approval decisions to safeguard the relative autonomy and freedom of young juvenile offenders’ lives during the review period; (2) ensuring that prosecution approval decisions are independently exercised by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, which should adopt a neutral stance and employ a combined approach of interrogation, hearing and expert evaluation for review, while actively soliciting opinions from defense counsel; and (3) establishing the fundamental principle that prosecution approval does not interfere with trial proceedings, clarifying that granting prosecution approval does not preclude the trial court from rendering an acquittal verdict for young juvenile offenders due to erroneous factual determinations, insufficient evidence, or other statutory grounds.

Key words: young juvenile offenders, prosecution approval procedure, criminal responsibility, novel supervision measures, prosecution approval without interference in trial proceedings