The House of Councilors on Monday approved a Juvenile Law revision bill to lower the minimum age at which suspects can be held criminally responsible for their actions from 16 to 14, after adding an opposition-proposed provision to the bill.
The provision, proposed by the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party, requires that the law be reviewed after five years.
Because of the addition of the provision, the bill will be sent back to the House of Representatives and is expected to clear the Lower House in a plenary session today.
The bill constitutes the first major amendment to the Juvenile Law since it came into effect in 1949.
The bill would allow relatives of the victims of crimes committed by juveniles to obtain photocopies of court records. The victims' relatives would 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 would allow 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 14- and 15-year-old suspects to public prosecutors to be indicted and face criminal trials as adults.