破解未成年人刑事责任年龄难题的经验借鉴与现实思考

Experience Reference and Practical Thinking on Solving the Problem of the Age of Criminal Responsibility for Minors

近年来,低龄未成年人实施犯罪的案件较为突出,处理临界未成年人犯罪的难题再次引起广泛讨论。立法者应在确保刑法稳定性的基础上根据社会实际不断完善未成年人刑事责任年龄制度。无论是古代中国还是海洋法系国家,大多采用弹性立法的方式对未成年人的刑事责任年龄进行规定。《刑法》第十七条新增第三款体现了弹性立法的精神。然而,该条款中部分要素的具体含义缺乏权威解释,导致其关系模糊不清,法律理解的成本过高。需要明确的是,“情节恶劣”包括事实判断和价值判断两个层面,必须将其置于“致人死亡”“致人严重残疾”两种不同语境下分别进行理解。同时,伴随着法治教育的纵深推进,强奸罪、抢劫罪可参照《刑法》第十七条第三款的相关规定增设弹性空间。此外,我国一直秉持“教育为主,惩罚为辅”的未成年人犯罪治理政策,必须从刑法角度对其进行理解,综合考虑现实侵害和预防成本,轻重有别。

In recent years,juvenile delinquency cases have become more prominent,and the issue of dealing with critical juvenile delinquency has again been widely discussed.On the basis of ensuring the stability of the criminal law,it is necessary to continuously improve the age system for juvenile criminal responsibility in line with social reality.Whether in ancient China or in maritime legal systems,most countries have adopted flexible legislation setting the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles.The new third paragraph of Article 17 of the criminal law reflects the spirit of flexible legislation.However,the lack of authoritative interpretation of the specific meaning of some elements in this article leads to the ambiguity of their relationship and the high cost of legal understanding.It should be made clear that“bad circumstances”includes two levels of fact judgment and value judgment,and it must be understood in two different contexts of“causing death”and“causing severe disability”.At the same time,along with the in-depth advancement of the rule of law education,the crime of rape and robbery can be added with reference to the relevant provisions of Article 17,paragraph 3,of the criminal law.In addition,China has consistently upheld the juvenile crime management policy of“education first,punishment subsidiary”.This policy should be understood from the perspective of criminal law,taking into account the actual infringement and prevention costs.