The Process, Contribution and Outlook of the Rule of Law on Children

ZHANG Shangen; DU Weijie

Abstract： An examination of the legislation on children's human rights in China cannot only present the history of the rule of law on children's human rights， but also uncover its contribution in promoting this cause. Marked by special child-centered legislation， the process of the rule of law on children's human rights can be divided into three basic stages of development： the exploration and establishment stage， the system formation stage and the deepening and expansion stage. The first is the exploration and establishment stage marked by the promulgation of Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors. This stage went through the process from exploring solutions to the problem of juvenile delinquency after the reform and opening-up， to the establishment of the mechanism for child protection， and then to the formulation of Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors. Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors is the first piece of legislation that focuses on protecting minors since the founding of the People's Republic of China and is of epoch-making significance in the building of the rule of law on children's human rights in China. Not only did it establish a modern concept of child protection in legislation， and thus promote a fundamental change in the legal status of children， but it also constructed a relatively mature system and mechanism for the protection of children's human rights. The second stage is the system formation stage marked by the promulgation of Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency， which shows the development of moving from one piece of special legislation to two pieces. This stage formed the basic framework of the legislation system for children's human rights， and was a major advancement in the rule of law on children's human rights. It resolved the legislative plight that mixed the prevention of juvenile delinquency with juvenile protection and constructed a legal system for children's human rights with protection and prevention in parallel. Through the system construction of juvenile justice， a rule of law system that separated minors from adults began to take shape. The third stage is the deepening and expansion stage marked by the promulgation of Family Education Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China， showing the development of moving from two pieces of special legislation to three pieces. This stage witnessed the deepening and expansion of various mechanisms for the protection of children's human rights through substantial amendments to the specifics of Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors and Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency. Family Education Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China expanded the legislative scope of child protection， extending child protection legislation from a child-centered approach to a family-based one and establishing new ideas and paths for the protection of children's human rights. The rule of law on children's human rights in the future requires， on the one hand， the resolution of many plights and problems in its building process and the continuous improvement of the existing legal system; and on the other hand， it needs to follow the characteristics of children's physical and mental development and adhere to the principle of maximizing children's interests， so as to further expand the legislative space for children's human rights， establish the juvenile justice system that separates minors from adults， unify the rule of law system on children's human rights and push for its codification. In this way， China's experience in the cause of protecting children's human rights can be shared with the rest of the world.

KEY WORDS： children's human rights; rule of law; juvenile justice; contribution to human rights