Discretion and the Conditional Non-Prosecution of Juveniles

Abstract

Conditional non-prosecution has been added to China’s Criminal Procedure Law amended in 2012, which is a special litigation system to protect minors who commit a crime and make the restorative justice come true. As a breakthrough legislation in China’s contemporary criminal prosecution system, this system reflects that China’s criminal legislation is constantly changing the traditional severity and mechanicality, developing in the direction of leniency and rationality, and at the same time being in line with the international principle of protecting the rights of minors. However, there are still certain problems in the application of the system, such as ambiguous norms an d the application rate of this system is not so high as expected; There also have problems such as competition between non-prosecution and conditional non-prosecution. We should actively explore how to guide and standardize the discretion of the procuratorate, which is an important way to ensure the normal operation of the conditional non-prosecution system.