On 16 September 2022, the Sino-German Legal Cooperation Programme of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH hosted an online dialogue event on the topic of “Juvenile delinquency – current developments and prevention” commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The joint event with the Supreme People’s Court of China was attended by judges and representatives of academia and social work from both countries.
In both Germany and China, the form of juvenile delinquencies has changed in recent years: Online crime, in which juveniles are either perpetrators, victims or both, is playing an increasingly dominant role in both countries. Towards juveniles, the justice system should not have a purely punitive but also an educational and, above all, preventive function. Since there are similar developments in juvenile delinquencies worldwide, the exchange facilitated by the Legal Cooperation Programme was intended to provide an overview and discuss possible measures for prevention and education.
First, Mr. Jiang Jihai, director of the Juvenile Justice Department of the Research Division of the Supreme People’s Court, delivered the opening remarks on behalf of the Chinese participants and emphasised the good cooperation with the German judiciary, which was enabled by the Legal Cooperation Programme. He highlighted that youth is the hope of a country and therefore particularly worthy of protection. The first juvenile criminal court was established in Shanghai in 1984. Since then, there has been a revision of the Law on the Protection of Minors, which came into force on 1 June 2021, and the new Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency was enacted, which focuses more on educational rather than punitive measures. Family education is at the center of the Family Education Promotion Law, which came into force on 1 January 2022.
The programme director of the Legal Cooperation Programme, Dr Marco Haase, also emphasised in his opening remarks that prevention and educational measures should be the focus in dealing with juvenile delinquencies and that this is the approach in Germany and China alike.
In the first presentation of the event, Ms Luo Ying, Deputy Head of the Criminal Chamber I of the Higher People’s Court of Shandong Province, gave an overview of the developments in juvenile delinquency, which to an increasing extent also takes place online. This can be in the form of cybercrime, as in the case of fraud or cyberbullying, or crimes that are prepared on the internet and then physically committed, as in the case of sexual offences, where contact with the victims is established online. Recently, an increasing number of minors have become victims. The courts would then try to take a preventive and educational approach with offenders and victims by sending them to psychologists or other institutions if necessary. In addition, judicial suggestions are taken up by administrative authorities who issue relevant administrative regulations.
On the German side, Dr Johannes Schlichte, a judge at the Hamburg Regional Court, gave an overview of juvenile delinquency in Germany, with a focus on the Internet as a medium. In Germany, too, there is a trend towards using the internet as a means of committing a crime and as the crime scene itself. Similar to China, custodial juvenile sentences in Germany are only imposed in particularly serious juvenile criminal cases and milder measures such as educational measures are preferable. In Germany, juvenile criminal law can also be applied to persons who have reached the age of 18 but not yet 21. In China, on the other hand, adult criminal law applies without restriction from the age of 18 onwards.
In the discussion, the Chinese side was interested in the criteria according to which adolescents are assessed. In Germany, this decision is made by the juvenile legal support agency, which are part of the youth welfare services of the municipalities. There were also questions about sex education in Germany and whether it specifically addresses the dangers of the internet in this. In Germany, this education takes place in families and in schools. Schools still have to improve when it comes to education about dangers on the internet, but youth welfare offices and other organisations provide information on this. In China, too, it is not the courts that deal directly with such issues, however, if issues such as internet addiction etc. become relevant in a legal case, the courts can order the defendants to seek psychological treatment from private institutions or psychologists.
The second part dealt with measures to prevent juvenile delinquency. Professor Xi Xiaohua from Capital Normal University presented the role of social work in the juvenile justice system in China. She also presented a historical overview of how youth protection has developed in China and what role social work plays in it.
Afterwards, Ms. Annette Kühnlein from the Frankfurt/Main Juvenile Legal Support Agency presented the concept of juvenile legal support services and the juvenile justice houses established in Frankfurt/Main. This concept is mainly built around the idea of integrating counselling, support and accompaniment of juvenile offenders until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings, a closer cooperation with the police and the public prosecutor’s office, the offer of a victim-offender mediation in suitable cases as well as the cooperation with the association for child and youth welfare in order to prevent repeated offences by juveniles. The staff of the Juvenile Legal Support Agency are trained social workers with state certificate and are involved in all criminal proceedings against juveniles and adolescents. This also includes, if necessary, the implementation of measures ordered by the juvenile court.
In their respective concluding remarks, Mr. Jiang Jihai from the Supreme People’s Court and Mr. Norbert Feige from the Sino-German Legal Cooperation Programme both noted that in the area of juvenile criminal law and the prevention of juvenile delinquency in both countries there are similarities despite some noticeable differences between the different systems and that similar basic ideas are pursued.