Senior judge calls for more focus on juvenile offenders

A senior judge with the top court on Friday called for more attention to lawsuits involving juvenile offenders, such as campus violence and campus bullying.

For those whose offences are minor, education should be a preferred option to bring them back to the right track, but for those whose crimes are severe, courts should resolutely hand down penalties, Shen Deyong, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, said while attending a meeting marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the juvenile court in Beijing.

Courts should also properly handle other civil cases related with juvenile's raising, nursing and visitation rights, he said.

Shen also called for more data analysis of juvenile crimes to look for loopholes in family and school education, as well as social management to offer suggestions to better social governance.

Schools should promote legal education to let students have a better sense of law, he said.

Xin Wen contributed to this story.