The Committee on Judicial Affairs of the House of Councilors approved a bill on Friday to revise the Juvenile Law, lowering the minimum age at which suspects can be held criminally responsible for their actions from 16 to 14.
The bill was carried by the ruling coalition -- the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party -- and two opposition parties -- the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party.
The two opposition parties sided with the ruling camp because the supplementary provision they demanded, stipulating that the law is to be reviewed after five years, was included in the bill.
The bill will be enacted into law after it clears a plenary session of the Upper House on Monday and a plenary session of the Lower House on Tuesday.
The bill constitutes the first major amendment to the Juvenile Law since it took effect in 1949.
The bill allows relatives of the victims of crimes committed by juveniles to obtain photocopies of court records. The victims' relatives will also be allowed to make statements before family court judges. Until now they could only participate as spectators.
For serious crimes such as murder and rape, the bill allows prosecutors to participate in family court proceedings, including accessing records, attending hearings and questioning suspects during the proceedings.
Under the amendments, family courts would also have the option of sending suspects as young as 14 to public prosecutors to be indicted and face criminal trials as adults.
The current law bans family courts from sending juveniles under 16 to prosecutors, and young offenders are usually sent to reformatories instead.
Efforts to revise the law accelerated following a series of serious crimes committed by juveniles nationwide.