Restorative justice for juvenile offenders in China: Current practices and challenges

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, restorative justice has gained considerable recognition worldwide and has become a prominent option for diverting juveniles away from the traditional criminal justice system as well as delivering fair and just outcomes in the justice process. This paper provides an overview of how the criminal justice system operates for juvenile offenders in the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, China). Based on a sophisticated literature review of recent Chinese academic journal articles on restorative justice for juveniles, the paper presents an analysis of the characteristics and operational procedures of current practices. Deficits and potential future developments pertaining to Chinese restorative practices for delinquents are also discussed.

在最近的几十年间, 恢复性司法在世界各地获得了广泛的认可, 并且已发展成为少年司法分流程序的一项公平和正义的重要选择, 将一些青少年罪犯从传统的刑事司法系统中转移出来。 本文概述了中华人民共和国 (以下简称中国) 针对未成年人的刑事司法制度的运作模式。基于对近期有关恢复性司法的学术文献详尽的回顾, 本文分析了恢復性司法的实践及特点, 并讨论了中国少年恢复性司法实务的强弱和未来发展。

KEYWORDS:

• Criminal law
• delinquents
• restorative justice
• juvenile justice
• education
• reform
• rehabilitation
• prosecution
• social work
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In Chinese, the term “juvenile” comprises four Chinese characters (wei cheng nian ren). Here, the word ren means “person” and weichengnian means “not yet an adult.” In the English-translated version of Chinese laws, the word “minor” is used to represent weichengnian ren. In the present paper, “juvenile” and “minor” are used interchangeably.

2. Prior to 2013, youth offenders who are 16 or older and considered to require stricter control were sent to “rehabilitation through labour” (a harsh detention facility) for several years. In response to a persistent criticism of the values and inhumane operation of these correction facilities, the Chinese government abolished this particular punishment in 2013.

Additional information

Funding

The work described in this paper was substantially supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China [CityU/11613018].