The Diet has enacted a law that toughen penalties for minors convicted of crimes.
The law to revise the Juvenile Act is the result of a Justice Ministry commission of inquiry that submitted a draft bill last year to change the law in response to growing public outrage over crimes committed by minors (defined as being under the age of 18).
Under the new law, the maximum juvenile sentence for crimes such as murder will be raised from 15 to 20 years, whereas before it was 10-15 years in prison, five years longer than before, Fuji TV reported.
The revision to the law also calls for family courts to appoint lawyers to oversee the rehabilitation progress of juvenile offenders.
Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki told a news conference that the new law is expected to take effect from May, Fuji reported.
© Japan Today
7 Comments
Login to comment
sensei258
Toughening penalties will make no difference if they are not enforced in the first place. Time for judges to step up.
Castle Doctrine
Cart before the horse. Don't punish minors nearly on par with adults. Recognize the adulthood of the people you incorrectly now call minors.
Speed
I agree with Castle Doctrine. First, call these "minors" adults and punish them accordingly.
By the way, I thought those under 20 weren't named in the press due to them being "minors". So which is it 20 or 18?
Skeeter27
I think they should be named!!! If the commit a crime then let the people know who they are!!
On another issue parents need to take a stronger role in disciplining their children. As long as children continue to run free and do what they want they will continue to get worse and commit more crimes.
And schools should give more severe punishment for example; suspensions or even expulsions for when children act out and do things that are against the rules.
The days of saying, " I said GOMENNASAI so we don't need to call the police" are gone!!!
Mirai Hayashi
By 5 years? Really? I think it should be much longer. Murder should be charged as murder and there should be no age restrictions on this particular crime. It should be 25 to life at least.
Kuribo1
Anything is better than nothing and about darned time. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a long list of new enactments.
Bear27840
Is this a sick joke?
Adding a few more years will not even come close to stopping the crime.