The head of China’s Supreme People’ Court (SPC) emphasizes making full use of the justice system to protect the legal rights of minors before International Children’s Day which falls on June 1 each year.

Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of the SPC, pointed out that the level of judicial protection over minors is an important measure of the legal process of a country.

Chinese courts focus on the judicial protection of minors and work to improve judicial policies. They have established judicial organs such as juvenile courts and strengthened legal publicity among minors to guarantee juvenile's healthy development, Zhou said.

The new conditions of juvenile justice must be fully recognized, Zhou said, noting that criminal violence against minors should be severely punished to prevent family violence and protect the young.

Education should be the main method in juvenile justice work and it’s necessary to find ways to conduct trials in conformity with the characteristics of minors and help delinquent juveniles integrate into society, according to Zhou.

He said that the trial system should be fully employed to handle cases involving school safety and juvenile human rights.

It’s equally necessary to pay attention to criminal punishment and guarantee human rights to ensure that the punishment and education functions of justice enable minors to make a fresh start in life, Zhou noted.

He also proposed increased analysis of the reasons for juvenile crime and inadequacies in family and school education and to come up with judicial measures to offset them.

Zhou emphasized that legal publicity and education among minors could raise their awareness and willingness to study and use the law.

Modern technologies such as the Internet and artificial intelligence should be used in legal education. Other ways appropriate for juveniles include person-to-person teaching, moot courts, on-scene observation and cartoons, all of which should also be put in place to improve awareness of the importance of the rule of law.