少年法厳罰化へ 凶悪犯罪の抑止につなげたい

The Yomiuri Shimbun February 18, 2014
Heavier penalties should be given to help deter heinous juvenile crime
少年法厳罰化へ　凶悪犯罪の抑止につなげたい（2月18日付・読売社説）

Imposing harsher penalties on juveniles who commit crime is important to deter heinous crimes.
　罪を犯した少年に、より厳しい刑を科す。それを凶悪犯罪の抑止につなげることが肝要だ。

The government has submitted a bill to revise the Juvenile Law with the hope of having it passed into law during the current Diet session.
　政府は少年法改正案を国会に提出した。今国会での成立を目指す。

The central pillar of the revision is to raise the assessment of culpability for juvenile crimes.
　改正案の柱は、少年犯罪の量刑を引き上げることだ。

With the revision of the Penal Code in 2004, the maximum determinate prison sentence for adults was raised to 30 years, but the assessment of culpability for juvenile offenders was kept unchanged.
　２００４年の刑法改正で、成人の有期刑の上限が３０年に引き上げられたのに対し、少年法の量刑は据え置かれていた。

For example, if a boy under 18 commits a crime which is deemed not heinous but nonetheless would bring an indeterminate prison sentence with hard labor for adults, he would be sentenced to “up to 15 years” in accordance with the stipulation of the Juvenile Law. With the revision, however, maximum imprisonment would be extended to 20 years.
　例えば、１８歳未満の少年が、成人であれば無期懲役に相当する事件を起こした場合、よほどの凶悪犯罪でない限り、少年法の規定により「１５年以下」の刑となる。改正案では、これを「２０年以下」へと刑期を長くする。

A group of victims of juvenile crimes has asserted, “Compared with adults, the assessment of culpability for juvenile offenders is too light.”
　少年犯罪の被害者団体は「成人に比べ、少年の量刑が軽すぎる」と訴えてきた。

The imposition of heavier penalties could be said to reflect such voices in the law.
厳罰化は、その意向を反映した結果と言えよう。

It goes without saying that the purport of the Juvenile Law, which is primarily aimed at rehabilitating juvenile delinquents, must be respected.
　無論、少年の更生を主眼とする少年法の趣旨は尊重すべきだ。

On the other hand, most people will understand the imposition of harsher penalties on those juveniles who commit atrocious crimes as there have been endless brutal incidents committed by juveniles, such as murder and robbery, even though juvenile crimes have declined recently.
　一方で、凶悪事件を起こした少年に厳しい刑で臨むことについては、国民の多くも納得するのではないだろうか。近年、少年犯罪の件数は減少傾向にあるものの、殺人や強盗などの凶悪事件は後を絶たないからだ。

The discussion over the implementation of harsher penalties on juvenile offenders was triggered by a murder case that took place in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, in 2009. In the incident, a then 17-year-old boy clubbed a first-year high school boy to death with a wooden bat.
　厳罰化論議のきっかけの一つとなったのは、大阪府富田林市で０９年に起きた殺人事件だ。当時１７歳だった少年が、高校１年の男子生徒を木製バットで殴り殺した。

Protecting rights of juveniles

At a lay judge trial at the Sakai branch of the Osaka District Court, the boy was sentenced to imprisonment of from five to 10 years, as the prosecution demanded. Apart from the sentence, however, the court added: “The term of imprisonment is not sufficient. We hope the law will be revised appropriately.”
　大阪地裁堺支部は裁判員裁判の判決で、少年に求刑通り懲役５年以上１０年以下の不定期刑を言い渡した。そのうえで、「十分でない刑期となった。適切な法改正を望みたい」と注文を付けた。

It is quite unusual for the court handling a criminal case to go so far as to refer to a revision of the law. Citizen judges must also have felt the assessment of culpability in the case did not match the circumstances of the atrocious crime.
　刑事事件の裁判で、法改正にまで言及するのは、極めて異例である。裁判員も、残忍な犯行状況に照らし、量刑が釣り合わないと感じたのだろう。

With penalties becoming heavier and prison terms becoming longer, it will be possible to thoroughly rehabilitate juvenile offenders in such institutions as juvenile prison. Rehabilitation programs must be reviewed to prevent juvenile delinquents from committing a crime again.
　厳罰化で刑期が長くなる分、少年刑務所などで、じっくり矯正教育に取り組むことも可能となろう。少年が二度と犯罪に手を染めないようにするため、矯正プログラムの再検討が求められる。

Also included in the revision bill is expansion of system of having court-appointed lawyers assist juveniles who have committed relatively light offenses at their trials using state funds to protect the juveniles’ rights during the investigations and trial. The expanded system would cover not only such heinous crimes as murder, which are covered by the current law, but also such relatively light offenses as theft and bodily harm.
　改正案には、国費で弁護士をつける国選付添人制度の対象を広げることも盛り込まれた。捜査や裁判の過程で、少年の権利を保護するためだ。殺人などの凶悪事件だけでなく、窃盗や傷害といった比較的軽微な犯罪も対象にする。

In many cases, juveniles are coerced into testifying against themselves during questioning by the words or actions of investigators or by leading questions.
　少年は取り調べの際、捜査員の強圧的な言動や誘導などで、自らに不利な供述をするケースも少なくない。

It is important for lawyers assisting juveniles to listen carefully to what they say and to properly cooperate in determining the facts.
付添人の弁護士は、少年の言い分に耳を傾け、適正な事実認定に協力することが大切だ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 18, 2014)
（2014年2月18日00時15分  読売新聞）