Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency

(npc.gov.cn)     Updated : 2015-08-17

Chapter III Prevention of Juvenile Misbehavior

Article 14 The parents and other guardians of juveniles and schools shall advise juveniles to keep from the following kinds of misbehavior:

(1) ) playing truant, staying out at night;

(2) carrying controlled knives;

(3) fighting, or abusing people;

(4) forcibly demanding money or things of value from others;

(5) stealing, or deliberately damaging property;

(6) taking part in gambling or gambling in disguised form;

(7) watching or listening in to pornographic or obscene audio-video products, or reading such stuff;

(8) going to commercial singing and dancing halls and other such places that are not suitable for juveniles as prescribed by laws and regulations; and

(9) other kinds of misbehavior that seriously run counter to social morality.

Article 15 The parents and other guardians of juveniles and schools shall advise juveniles to keep from smoking and getting drunk. No business places may sell cigarettes or alcoholic drinks to juveniles.

Article 16 where middle or primary school students play truant, the school shall get in touch with their parents or other guardians without delay.

Where juveniles stay out at night without permission, their parents or other guardians, or the boarding school concerned shall look for them without delay, or approach a public security organ for help. Whoever allows a juvenile to stay at his or her place at night shall obtain permission of the juvenile's parents or other guardians in advance, or inform them or the school concerned of the matter within 24 hours, or report to a public security organ without delay.

Article 17 When parents or other guardians of juveniles and schools find that juveniles organize or join gangs that perpetrate misbehavior, they shall stop the juveniles promptly. When they find that the gangs have violated laws or committed criminal offences, they shall report the matter to public security organs.

Article 18 When parents or other guardians of juveniles and schools find that juveniles are instigated or coerced to perpetrate or lured into illegal or criminal actions, they shall report the matter to public security organs. When the public security organs receive the reports, they shall immediately investigate and deal with the cases in accordance with law and, where the personal safety of juveniles is endangered, they shall promptly take effective measures to protect them.

Article 19 Parents or other guardians of juveniles may not allow juveniles under the age of 16 to be free from their guardianship and live alone.

Article 20 Parents or other guardians of juveniles may not give a free rein the juveniles, compel them to run away from home, or discard their duty of guardianship.

Where juveniles run away from home, their parents and other guardians shall look for them without delay, or approach public security organs for help.

Article 21 Where the parents of juveniles are divorced, both parties shall have the duty to educate their children, and neither party may fail to perform such duty on the pretext of divorce.

Article 22 The stepparents and adoptive parents shall perform the same duty for the adolescent children they are supporting and educating as the duty performed by parents to their adolescent children in prevention of crimes, as prescribed by this Law.

Article 23 Schools shall enforce education and administration among juveniles who are involved in misbehavior and may not discriminate against them.

Article 24 The administrative departments for education and schools shall hold various forms of activities like lectures, informal discussions and training programs to make known to the participants good, effective educational methods in light of the physiological and psychological characteristics of juveniles in different stages of growth and to show the teachers, the parents of juveniles and other guardians how to effectively prevent, and rectify and treat juveniles' misbehavior.

Article 25 Where teachers, administrators or workers instigate or coerce juveniles to perpetrate or lure them into misbehavior, or where these people are ill-behaved, have a baneful influence on and are not suitable for school work, the administrative departments for education and the school authorities shall dismiss or discharge them; where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated in accordance with law.

Article 26 It is prohibited to set up commercial singing and dancing halls, commercial electronic games centers and other places that are not suitable for juveniles in the neighborhood of middle or primary schools. The kinds of halls, centers and places mentioned above shall be specified by people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

The halls, centers and places set up before this Law goes into effect shall to be moved to other areas or closed down within a time limit.

Article 27 Public security organs shall tighten control for public security around middle and primary schools, promptly stop and deal with illegal or criminal actions that are committed around such schools. The neighborhood committees in cities and villagers' committees in the countryside shall assist public security organs in successfully maintaining public security around middle and primary schools.

Article 28 Public security stations, neighborhood committees in cities and villagers' committees in the countryside shall keep tabs on the schooling and employment of juveniles among temporary resident populations in their administrative areas. With regard to juveniles among temporary resident populations who perpetrate misbehavior, they shall urge the parents and other guardians of the juveniles to educate the juveniles effectively and to stop their misbehavior.

Article 29 No one may instigate or coerce juvenile to perpetrate or lure them into misbehavior prescribed by this Law, or provide conditions for them to perpetrate misbehavior.

Article 30 Publications meant for juveniles may not contain such contents as may induce juveniles to violate law or commit criminal offenses, or such contents as may impair the physical and mental health of juveniles' contents that exaggerate violence, pornography, gambling, terror, etc.

Article 31 No unit or individual may sell or loan to juveniles publications, audio-video products or electronic publications which contain such contents as may induce juveniles to violate laws or commit criminal offenses, and such contents as may impair the physical and mental health of juveniles, contents that exaggerate violence, pornography, gambling, terror, etc.

No unit or individual may, by means of telecommunications, computer network, etc., provide such contents and information about such contents that may impair the physical and mental health of juveniles as prescribed by the preceding paragraph.

Article 32 No programs of radio, film, TV and drama may contain such contents as may impair the physical and mental health of juveniles, contents that exaggerate violence, pornography, gambling, terror, etc.

The administrative departments for radio, film and television and the administrative departments for culture shall strengthen administration of the programs of radio, film, TV and drama and the various showplaces.

Article 33 Around commercial singing and dancing halls and other places that are not suitable for juveniles, conspicuous no-admittance signs for juveniles shall be put up, and no juveniles may be admitted into such places.

Juveniles may not be admitted into commercial electronic games centers except during festivals and holidays specified by the State, and conspicuous no-admittance signs for juveniles shall be put up there.

Where it is difficult to judge whether a person is juvenile or not, the worker of such a center may ask person to show his identity card.

Chapter IV Rectification and Treatment of Serious Juvenile Misbehavior

Article 34 " Serious misbehavior " as used in this Law refers to the following illegal actions that do serious harm to the community but are not serious enough for criminal punishment:

(1) gathering people to create disturbance, and disrupting public order;

(2) carrying controlled knives and refusing to stop doing so after repeated criticisms;

(3) holding up and beating people many times or forcibly demanding money or things of value from others;

(4) spreading obscene publications or audio-video products, etc.;

(5) engaging in licentious or pornographic activities or harlotry;

(6) committing theft many times;

(7) taking part in gambling and refusing to stop doing so after repeated criticisms;

(8) ingesting or injecting drugs; and

(9) other actions that do serious harm to the community.

Article 35 When juveniles are found to perpetrate the serious misbehavior as prescribed by this Law, they shall be stopped doing so without delay.

When juveniles are found to perpetrate serious misbehavior as prescribed by this Law, their parents or other guardians and the schools concerned shall coordinate their efforts and take measures to subject them to strict discipline, or may send them to work-study schools for rectification or treatment, and for education.

To send juveniles to work-study schools for rectification or treatment, and for education, their parents or other guardians or their former schools shall submit applications for approval to the administrative departments for education.

Article 36 Work-study schools shall impose strict control on and enforce education among the juveniles who study there. They shall, in addition to the same courses offered by ordinary schools, as required by the Law on Compulsory Education, put emphasis on education in the legal system and help the juveniles to rectify or treat their serious misbehavior in light of the causes for such misbehavior and the psychological characteristics of the juveniles.

Families and schools shall show concern for and take good care of the juveniles who study in work-study schools and respect their personality and dignity, and may not impose physical punishment on, maltreat, or discriminate against them. Juveniles who graduate from work-study schools shall enjoy equal rights with students who graduate from ordinary schools in entering schools of a higher grade and in employment, and no unit or individual may discriminate against them.

Article 37 Juveniles who perpetrate serious misbehaviors, as specified in this Law, that constitute violations of the regulations governing public security shall be punished for public security by public security organs according to law. Juveniles who are exempted from punishment because they have not reached the age of 14 or the circumstances are especially minor may be subjected to reprimand.

Article 38 Where Juveniles are not given criminal punishment because they have not reached the age of 16, their parents or other guardians shall be ordered to subject them to strict discipline; when necessary, they may also be sheltered for correction by governments in accordance with law.

Article 39 During the period when juveniles are sheltered for correction, the executing organs shall make sure that they continue to receive education in cultural and legal knowledge or vocational techniques; for those who have not finished compulsory education, the executing organs shall make sure that they continue to receive such education.

Juveniles who are released from sheltering for correction or from reeducation through labor shall enjoy equal rights with other juveniles in going back to school and entering schools of a higher grade and in employment, and no unit or individual may discriminate against them.