In response to an amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act (少年事件處理法), which went into effect on Friday last week, the Executive Yuan is to publish guidelines for determining which juvenile offenses merit intervention from the Ministry of Education and social workers, sources with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
The guidelines would use the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as a reference, the sources said.
Juvenile offenses under the guidelines would include running away from school or home, wielding a knife or other weapon, reading pornographic material, using or carrying controlled substances, and contemplating or attempting to commit crimes, they said.
The guidelines are to serve as a reference for educators and social workers on when to intervene in juvenile delinquency matters.
Carrying weapons, using drugs, or contemplating or attempting crimes are some of the most prevalent delinquencies among minors and would be covered by the act instead of the Criminal Code, Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i (林萬億) said.
The Executive Yuan would soon unveil the guidelines to complement the amendment, which was designed to keep teenagers out of the court system and help prevent them from committing these kinds of infractions, he said.
The list could be promulgated immediately without having to pass a Legislative Yuan review, he added.
While reviewing proposals to amend the act, lawmakers last year abolished a rule that required minors aged seven to 12 to stand trial, based on the suggestions of international experts and the UN convention.
Because most crimes committed by children in this age bracket are theft, these cases have since been exempted from juvenile courts to be handled by school administrators or social workers.
The amendment requires juvenile courts to close all cases involving minors in the age bracket on the grounds that they would either “cease or desist reviewing them” or would “refrain from ordering the juvenile delinquents into custody.”
This in effect would transfer cases involving these offenses to the jurisdiction of the education system and social workers.
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