In 1994, the Ministry of Justice launched the system of Civil Liberties Commissioners for the Rights of the Child to handle issues of children's rights professionally. 682 special commissioners were placed in Legal Affairs Bureaus and District Legal Affairs Bureaus nationwide as of Tune 1, 2002, to provide consultation services to victims of bullying and to take appropriate measures to eliminate the practice of bullying.
  According to the data obtained from the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 30,918 incidents of bullying were in public elementary, junior high, senior high, and special education schools in the 2000 fiscal year (a decline of 1.4% from the previous year). By type of bullying (aggregate total of 43,332 incidents), teasing and taunting had the largest distribution with 12,994 cases (30.0%), followed by verbal threats with 7,693 cases (17.8%), assaults with 6,872 cases (15.9%), and exclusions from groups with 6,157 cases (14.2%). In short, bullying takes various forms, not all of which are considered the focus of criminal justice procedures. Moreover, in reality, the very nature of bullying makes it difficult to grasp the actual situations.
  The number of cases resulting from bullying and the number of juveniles subjected to clearance and guidance for bullying both showed a long-term downward trend after peaking in 1985 at 638 cases and 1,950 persons. In 2001, however, the number came to 110 cases, and 288 persons (Source: Community Safety Bureau, National Police Agency).
  Concerning bullying, there are cases in which juvenile victims may commit an offense in retaliation for bullying. Of the 110 cases resulting from bullying in 2001, 7 cases were classified as retaliation.