China’s juvenile justice system has grown and changed substantially since the 1980s. While considerable research focuses on institutional treatment of juvenile delinquents, little attention has been paid to the diversion processes and measures that allow troubled juveniles to be directed away from the formal justice system. Through a comparison with juvenile justice in the United States, this article aims to investigate the development of the juvenile diversion framework in China. We argue that despite their similar efforts to divert juvenile delinquents from traditional court proceedings, in practice China’s diversionary arrangements diverge from those of their US counterparts. Unlike in the United States, Chinese juvenile diversion does not operate according to welfarist or restorative models. Rather, juvenile diversion in China is a managerialism-driven scheme that rests on two key pillars: institutional diversion, which imposes punishment and control on juvenile offenders pursuant to their level of offending and dangerousness, and noninstitutional diversion, which revolves around risk-based management and correction through community-level interventions. We conclude that China’s distinctive sociolegal culture and political priorities have shaped a practice that appears to be at odds with the officially advertised narratives of the state’s juvenile justice policy.
SummaryIn October 1984, Shanghai Changning district people's court established the first collegial panel of our country specializing in juvenile criminal cases; and it marks the beginning of the juvenile justice reform in China. After 30 years of development, the philosophy of juvenile justice has changed; juvenile judicial institutions are growing and juvenile justice system has gradually formed. Different from the practices of juvenile court in Western countries such as the U. S., Japan, and Germany, juvenile delinquency or deviant behavior that does not violate the criminal law would not enter the judicial process, but rather, would be handled by administrative agencies such as the police, and subject to coercive measures including educational measures, protective measures, and punitive measures in China. Among these measures, education through Custody as a strict administrative punishment can deprive the personal liberty of the juvenile delinquents for as long as four years. Instead of ruling by court through the due process in accordance with the law, decisions of education through custody are made by the administrative organs in practice. This practice is probably unique in the world.
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