A Lower House plenary session passed controversial legislation Tuesday to amend the Juvenile Law to impose harsher penalties on young offenders and lower the age of criminal liability.
The bill was supported by the tripartite ruling coalition as well as opposition members from the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party. It will now be sent to the House of Councilors.
Other opposition forces, including the Japanese Communist Party and Social Democratic Party, opposed the legislation, saying the revision will undermine the spirit of the Juvenile Law, implemented in 1956, which attaches greater importance to protecting and rehabilitating juvenile offenders than punishing them.