White Paper on Crime 2021 Part3/Chapter3
A public prosecutor must, in principle, institute prosecution of a case referred to him/her by a family court if the prosecutor considers that there is sufficient suspicion to institute prosecution.
Criminal procedure for prosecuted juveniles is basically the same as that for adults. A court, however, shall, by a ruling, transfer a case to a family court if it is found appropriate to subject a juvenile defendant to protective measures as a result of examination of facts.
If a juvenile is to be punished with imprisonment with or without work for a definite term, the juvenile must be given a sentence with the minimum and the maximum imprisonment terms determined within the limit stipulated by statute (indeterminate sentence; the minimum and maximum terms cannot exceed 10 and 15 years, respectively) unless execution of the sentence is suspended.
If a person who is under 18 at the time of committing an offense is to be punished with the death penalty, life imprisonment shall be imposed. If a person who is under 18 at the time of committing an offense is to be punished with life imprisonment, imprisonment with or without work for a definite term may be imposed. In this case, the term of imprisonment imposed shall be neither less than 10 years nor more than 20 years.