Juveniles Act

The statute of limitations for prosecution is suspended during the period from the date on which the ruling prescribed in Article 21 is given on the case prescribed in the first sentence of Article 8, paragraph (1), or from the date on which the case prescribed in the second sentence of Article 8, paragraph (1) was referred to a family court, to the date on which the ruling to subject disposition for rehabilitation of an adjudicated delinquent becomes final and binding.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply to cases in which the juvenile has reached 20 years of age, after the ruling or referral prescribed in Article 21.

A detention warrant may not be issued against a juvenile unless it is unavoidable.

If a juvenile is detained, then the juvenile may be detained in a juvenile classification home.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph remain applicable even after the juvenile reaches 20 years of age.

A juvenile suspect or defendant must be separated from other suspects or defendants to avoid contact with them as much as possible.

The proceedings against the juvenile defendant must be separated, even if related to other defendant cases, as long as the proceedings are not obstructed.

At a penal institution, detention facility or coast guard detention facility, a juvenile, (other than a sentenced person as prescribed in Article 2, item (iv) of the Act on Penal Detention Facilities and the Treatment of Inmates and Detainees (Act No. 50 of 2005) (excluding any person with the status of detainee awaiting a judicial decision as prescribed in item (vii) of that Article)), must be detained separately from persons of 20 years of age or older.

The proceedings of a juvenile criminal case must be conducted in compliance with the purport of Article 9.

If a person is under 18 years of age when the crime was committed, then they will be sentenced to imprisonment for life, if the punishment would otherwise be the death penalty.

If a person is under 18 years of age when the crime was committed, they may be sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term, if the punishment would otherwise be imprisonment for life. In this case, the punishment will be a sentence of 10 years or more to no more than 20 years.

If a juvenile is to be sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term, a sentence for the maximum term of imprisonment is determined within the range of the punishment to be imposed, with the minimum term of imprisonment being at least one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment (if the maximum term of imprisonment is less than 10 years; 5 years less than the maximum term of imprisonment; this also applies in the following paragraph). In this case, the maximum term of imprisonment may not exceed 15 years, and the minimum term of imprisonment may not exceed 10 years.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if it is found particularly necessary, taking into consideration the possibility of improvement and rehabilitation of the juvenile and other circumstances, the minimum term of imprisonment prescribed in that paragraph may be determined within not less than one-half of the minimum term of imprisonment of the punishment to be imposed, and not less than one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment. In this case, the provisions of Article 14, paragraph (2) of the Penal Code apply mutatis mutandis.

The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs do not apply in the case when suspension of execution of sentence is rendered.

When the measures prescribed in Article 17, paragraph (1), item (ii) are implemented, the number of days of detention at a juvenile classification home is deemed as the number of days of pre-sentencing detention.

No juvenile is to be sentenced to detention in a workhouse.

A court, by a ruling, must transfer a case to a family court if it finds it appropriate to subject the juvenile defendant to disposition for rehabilitation of an adjudicated delinquent as a result of an examination of the facts.

Regarding a juvenile sentenced to imprisonment (excluding a person serving their sentence at a juvenile training school pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (3)), the sentence is executed in a specially established penal institution or a specially partitioned area in a penal institution or detention facility.

The execution pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph may be continued until the juvenile in question reaches 26 years of age.

Notwithstanding the provisions in Article 12, paragraph (2) of the Penal Code, a juvenile under 16 years of age sentenced to imprisonment may serve their sentence at a juvenile training school until they reach 16 years of age. In this case, correctional education is given to the juvenile.

If a sentence of imprisonment or penal detention becomes final and binding in the course of the disposition for rehabilitation of an adjudicated delinquent, the sentence is executed first. The same applies if a sentence of imprisonment or penal detention has become final and binding and the disposition for rehabilitation of an adjudicated delinquent is made before the sentence is executed.

A person sentenced to imprisonment as a juvenile may be paroled after the following periods have passed:

seven years in the case of imprisonment for life;

one-third of a term of sentence in the case of imprisonment for a fixed term rendered pursuant to the provisions of Article 51, paragraph (2);

one-third of a minimum imprisonment term in the case of imprisonment rendered pursuant to the provisions of Article 52, paragraph (1), or pursuant to the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) of that Article.

The provisions of item (i) of the preceding paragraph do not apply to a person sentenced to imprisonment for life pursuant to the provisions of Article 51, paragraph (1).

If a person who has been sentenced to imprisonment for life as a juvenile has been paroled, and ten years have passed without revocation of the parole, then the person is deemed to have served their full sentence.

If a person who has been sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term as a juvenile, pursuant to the provisions of Article 51, paragraph (2), or pursuant to the provisions of Article 52, paragraph (1) or paragraphs (1) and (2) of that Article, has been paroled, and, without revocation of the parole, a period equal to the period during which the person served the sentence before being paroled, or the term of sentence prescribed in Article 51, paragraph (2) or the maximum term of imprisonment prescribed in Article 52, paragraph (1), has passed, then the person is deemed to have served their full sentence at whichever of those times comes first.

With respect to application of laws and regulations regarding personal qualification, a person who had been sentenced for an offense committed as a juvenile and has served their sentence or who has been exempted from execution of the sentence is deemed not to have been sentenced from that point on.

When a person has been sentenced for an offense committed as a juvenile, but the execution of the sentence has been suspended, the person is deemed to have served their sentence during that suspension period, and the provisions of the preceding paragraph apply.

In the case of the preceding paragraph, if the suspension of execution of the sentence is revoked, the person is deemed to have been sentenced when it is revoked, with respect to the application of laws and regulations regarding personal qualifications.