White Paper on Crime 2023 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 years old 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 who is under 18 at the time of sentence is to be punished with imprisonment with or without work for a definite term, and its sentence is not suspended, the juvenile must be given a sentence of imprisonment for indefinite terms. At the same time the court has to determine the minimum and the maximum imprisonment terms within the limit stipulated by statute (indeterminate sentence; the minimum and the maximum terms cannot exceed 10 and 15 years, respectively).
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.