제 17 호 Criminal Minors
Criminal Minors
By Myung-Kwan Kang
Do you know about criminal minors? I think many readers are well aware of this because it has become a social issue every year. First of all, criminal minors refer to those aged 10 to 14 who are not subject to criminal punishment. Juvenile crime is getting more serious; however the crime rate has decreased compared to last year. (As of 2022) Let's find out why through 2021 crime statistics. Last year, the number of "criminal boys" (14-18 years old) decreased by 16% compared to the previous year, but the proportion of criminal minors rather increased. Let's take a look at the example of these criminal minors.
Sexual assault case in Jinju, Gyeongnam
This is a sexual assault case in Jinju, Gyeongnam in October 2021. At that time, the victim(A), who was in the first year of middle school, received a phone call from the perpetrator(B) to "come where I am." There were three people drinking there, and B forced A to drink. And after that, only A and B remained, then the incident happened. Afterwards, A's mother arrives at the outdoor parking lot where her daughter is located. Meanwhile, when 10 male students, including B, approached, A's mother reported to the police. Then, B changed his clothes three times to eliminate evidence of the crime. Later, B claimed that he had sex according to the agreement, but the police concluded that it was sexual assault. However, the perpetrator was sent to the juvenile department of the district court without being arrested because he was a criminal minor. And the court ordered B to be sent to a juvenile detention center for less than six months. In addition, the court did not notify the victim of the outcome of the disposition because it was a juvenile case. The victim's mother needed a case record for a civil lawsuit. For this reason, she visited hospitals, lawyers, police stations, and courts. However, she only heard that she could not check the documents because it was a juvenile case.
Mistake of a criminal minor with a criminal record of 40.
It happened in Gwangju on April 15, 2022. At 4 a.m., two men stole a van with a car key inside the car and left the apartment parking lot. They were caught at an accommodation in Mokpo while driving 80km to Mokpo without a license. Those who stole the vehicle and ran away were middle school students, who committed similar crimes 40 times in the past. Whenever they were caught, they were just released because they were criminal minors, and they committed the same crime again. However, they turned 14 years old, and they committed the crime without thinking about it and were eventually punished.
Murder following theft
It happened in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, in March 2020. They stole a rental car on March 21, 23, and 25, and those who came to the police station after being caught by the police sat at the police station with their cigarettes in their mouths and posted pictures on SNS with the words "Ready to run away from Gumi Police Station." And on the 29th, they stole another rental car and ran to Daejeon and hit and killed a college student who was working part-time delivery. However, they were transferred to a juvenile detention center because they were criminal minors. After the incident, a reporter asked Judge Chun Jong-ho what he thought of the abolition of the juvenile law or strengthening punishment, and he said, "We can lower the age, but it is not ridiculously high compared to other countries," adding, "We can come up with measures to punish certain crimes."
The Cabinet meeting passed the amendment to the Juvenile Act.
In December last year, the Ministry of Justice submitted a revised bill to the National Assembly to lower the age standard of criminal minors from 14 to 13 years old. This reflects the public opinion that crimes of young offenders who abused the fact that they are not subject to criminal punishment are increasing and their methods are becoming more diverse. If the revision passes the plenary session of the National Assembly and is implemented in earnest, a current first-year middle school student after his birthday will face criminal punishment if he commits a violent crime. According to the data presented by the Ministry of Justice, the number of cases related to young offenders at courts nationwide stood at 16,836, up 434 from 12,502 in 2021. This is the largest number of applications and the largest increase among statistics over the past 10 years. It has been increasing every year since 2016 (7030 cases). According to the age standard, which does not apply to criminal penalties in major overseas’ countries, in the case of the United States, many states, including those under the age of 13, are applying those under the age of 10 to 13. France is under 13, Canada is under 12, and the UK is under 10. According to the Ministry of Justice, even looking at overseas’ cases, it is not unreasonable to lower the standard age of young offenders to 13. Currently, more than 70% of juvenile offenders are confirmed to be 13 years old, and if the law is revised, the crime rate of juvenile offenders will be lowered. In addition, a revision to the Juvenile Act, which calls for lowering the age by one year to 13 years old, passed the Cabinet meeting.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea opposes lowering the age of teenagers. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea argued that lowering the standard age is contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and is concerned about expanding the stigma effect. In response, the Ministry of Justice explained, "Criminal punishment will be carried out only in very exceptional cases." In addition, if the protection measures are unfair, the prosecutor will push for an appeal reflecting the victim's opinion. I don't know when the bill will pass the National Assembly, but I think it will bring a lot of changes if it is implemented.
Source :
https://biz.newdaily.co.kr/site/data/html/2022/08/10/2022081000088.html
https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1006912281
https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1006718246&plink=ORI&cooper=NAVER
https://post.naver.com/viewer/postView.nhn?volumeNo=28008787&memberNo=11880830&vType=VERTICAL
http://www.obsnews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=1379492
Image source:
https://pixabay.com/photos/gavel-auction-law-hammer-symbol-2492011/
