Legislative Responses to the Younger Age Trend of Minors’ Civil Infringements

Abstract

This paper focuses on the remarkable social phenomenon of the younger age trend of minors’ infringement behaviors for research. Firstly, it presents the current situation of this phenomenon in terms of quantity, type, and degree of harm through data statistics and case compilations, and conducts in-depth analyses of the characteristics of the actors and types of infringements. It also explores the reasons from multiple aspects such as family, school education, social environment, and the psychological and physiological development of minors themselves. From the perspective of comparative law, it elaborates in detail on the models and experiences of the United States, Germany, Japan and other countries in terms of the concepts, principles, liability determination and compensation mechanisms in the legislation of minors’ infringements. It combs through the currently relevant laws and regulations in China and analyzes the existing problems such as the ambiguous standards for determining liability capacity, the imperfect provisions on guardians’ liability, and the unsound compensation mechanism. Furthermore, it puts forward suggestions that China should construct a liability capacity determination system integrating multiple factors, improve the guardians’ liability system and create a diversified compensation mechanism, aiming to perfect the legal regulation system of minors’ infringements in China, effectively respond to the challenges of younger age infringements, balance the interests of all parties, promote social harmony and stability as well as the healthy growth of minors, and provide theoretical and practical references for the construction of the rule of law for minors in China.