Experts say special teams need to be set up before changes come into effect

While lauding updates to a law that promises stronger and broader protection of children, legal experts have called on government agencies, courts and procuratorates to build special teams and educate staff members in the handling of cases involving minors.

Tong Lihua, director of the Beijing Children's Legal Aid and Research Center, said he was glad China's top legislature passed an amendment to the Law on Protection of Minors in October that will place more onus on government agencies to safeguard juveniles.

But he said more human resources need to be devoted to the area before the changes come into effect on June 1.

"There are too few people focused on juvenile affairs in many government agencies to be able to coordinate with others in handling work related to children," Tong said.

"Many government agencies have not built up special teams or divisions in charge of juvenile affairs, so it will be difficult for them to work with each other."

Tong, also a lawyer, said the lack of such teams was a big challenge to enforcement of the law.

"In simple terms, we've already designed a mechanism in the law to protect children, with specified work requirements for government agencies, but we have few teams or talented people capable of operating the system, let alone coordinating with each other to intensify protection and make it professional.

"The key to a law or policy's implementation lies in whether there are people carrying it out who are competent to do the work. The new law is no exception."

The amendment will not only enhance protection for children in family and school settings, but also includes a new chapter related to safeguards in cyberspace.

Song Yinghui, a law professor at Beijing Normal University, said it is important to build up a sufficient number of professional teams to handle cases involving children to prevent further harm to juveniles.

"For example, if young defendants or victims cannot be given timely and professional psychological aid, their problems may get worse," he said. "Meanwhile, if we cannot accurately evaluate the capacity of a child's guardian, the child may suffer in an unhealthy family environment, which will not be good for his or her growth."

Tong and Song both hailed recent efforts by prosecutors to improve the handling of cases involving children, especially after each procuratorate was ordered last year to establish a special division or team to deal with such cases.

"The building of such a team can reduce the work burden on other divisions, meaning those fighting other crimes do not need to devote extra time to tackling cases involving children, and it can also contribute to resolving child-related cases more professionally and efficiently," Song said.

Tong said the amended law backed those efforts by declaring the establishment of special teams "a must", whereas the old version deemed it a "voluntary" matter.

That means special teams dealing with juvenile affairs will be set up in more government agencies and judicial organs, he said.

"Only when each department builds a special team to implement the law will the mechanism to strengthen the protection of children run smoothly," he said. "Otherwise, it will just idle along, albeit in a better setting."

Meanwhile, Song said, more time and money needs to be invested in educating staff members to ensure they are better able to deal with cases involving children.

"The more education we offer, the more professional aid children will have," he said, suggesting that third-party associations could also be enlisted to improve child-related services, such as psychological consultations and social surveys. In that way, government agencies, courts and procuratorates could buy services from professional institutions to make the handling of children's affairs more efficient.

Yuan Ningning, a researcher at China University of Political Science and Law who specializes in laws related to children, said civil affairs departments should play a leading role in coordinating work related to children and called on judicial agencies to strengthen supervision and practical innovation.

"The revised law is a new start for all walks of life, and joint efforts under the improved work mechanism will, I believe, give stronger protection to our children," he said.

As well as demanding that government departments and judicial organs establish special teams, the revised law also requires some public places, including shopping malls, supermarkets, hospitals, libraries, museums, airports and theme parks, to build security alarm systems to help find missing children.