On April1,2003,the Law for Partial Amendments to the Juvenile Law etc.(Law No.142of2000;hereinafter referred to as the"Amended Juvenile Law")took effect.Under the Amended Juvenile Law,any case where a juvenile aged16or over killed a victim through an intentional criminal act(hereinafter referred to as"serious juvenile offense cases")must be decided to be referred to a public prosecutor unless a family court concludes after investigation that the case should be handled differently from criminal sentences.As a result,there have been significant changes in criminal procedures,such as a rise in the percentage of referrals to public prosecutors for juveniles who committed serious offenses(hereinafter referred to as"serious juvenile offenders").
  In order to understand the present situation and treatment of serious juvenile offenders after enforcement of the Amended Juvenile Law,the Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice conducted(i)a survey on the contents of offenses and treatment based on the data in juvenile classification homes and public prosecutors'offices,(ii)a survey on the attitudes and treatment of juveniles detained in juvenile training schools and juvenile prisons,and(iii)a survey on probationary supervision based on data in probation offices.
  The object person of these surveys were278juveniles,who were14years old or over at the time of offenses,were placed under protective detention at juvenile classification homes for serious juvenile offense cases they had committed after April1,2001,and were discharged from those homes according to final disposition by family courts by March31,2004.