Juveniles under the age of 14 are not criminally responsible, mainly because teenagers of this age are mentally immature and lack the ability to judge right from wrong. Excessive application of penalties to minors will lead to the interruption of normal learning. The incarceration environment has a greater impact on younger minors and is more likely to develop anti-social personality, which to a certain extent increases the possibility of re-offending.

“How to punish minor crimes is actually a question of how to treat minor crimes.” Cheng Lei, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China, said that compared with adult crimes, there are many factors behind minor crimes. There are more social reasons. Punishment punishes individual criminals. On the issue of minor crimes, it would be a bit harsh to impose punishment entirely on the minor himself.

“Lowering the age of criminal responsibility is not the best solution in the long term.

Yuan Ningning, associate professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that the vicious cases of young minors are extreme cases, so it is worthy of discussion to modify the general age of criminal responsibility system for most people.