White Paper on Crime 2022 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 those aged 20 or older. 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.