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.
罪を犯すとき十八歳に満たない者に対しては、死刑をもつて処断すべきときは、無期拘禁刑を科する。
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.
罪を犯すとき十八歳に満たない者に対しては、無期拘禁刑をもつて処断すべきときであつても、有期拘禁刑を科することができる。この場合において、その刑は、十年以上二十年以下において言い渡す。
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imprisonment
拘禁刑
The punishment of being held in a penal institution (刑事施設), for life or for a fixed term of one month to twenty years (Penal Code, Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2)); a fixed term can be raised to thirty years where the punishment is aggravated, or cut below one month where it is reduced (Article 14, paragraph (2)). To help the person reform and rehabilitate, they may be made to do work or given guidance (Article 12, paragraph (3)). It ranks below the death penalty and above a fine (罰金) among the principal punishments (Articles 9 and 10, paragraph (1)). It replaced imprisonment with work (懲役) and imprisonment without work (禁錮) when the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc. (Act No. 67 of 2022) came into force (Act No. 67 of 2022, Article 2), and a person sentenced to either is treated, for the rules on a person's qualifications, as sentenced to imprisonment for the same term (Act No. 68 of 2022, Article 443, paragraph (1)).
Written by AI using Penal Code, Arts. 9, 10, 12, 14, Act No. 67 of 2022, Art. 2 and Act No. 68 of 2022, Art. 443 as a reference.