１８・１９歳、厳罰化へ「逆送」拡大　少年法改正の答申案―法制審部会

　成人年齢の引き下げに伴い、少年法の改正を議論してきた法制審議会（法相の諮問機関）の部会は９日、答申案を取りまとめた。罪を犯した１８、１９歳について、家庭裁判所から検察官送致（逆送）される対象事件を拡大。２０歳以上と同様の厳しい処分手続きとするよう求めた。
　法務省は、早期に法制審の総会で答申を受けた後、具体的な法案の作成に入る。
　答申案は、少年法の適用年齢そのものを引き下げるかどうかについては賛否を示さず、「１８歳未満とも２０歳以上とも異なる扱いをすべきだ」との表現にとどめた。
　現在の少年法は、殺人や傷害致死など「故意の犯罪行為により被害者を死亡させた罪」について、原則として逆送しなければならないと規定。逆送されれば通常の刑事裁判を受ける。この対象事件について、１８、１９歳は「法定刑の下限が１年以上の懲役・禁錮の罪」に拡大。強盗や強制性交などが新たに対象となる。
　実名や顔写真など本人の特定につながる「推知報道」は、現行法では一律禁止だが、１８、１９歳は逆送を経て起訴されれば可能とする。家裁手続き時点では非公開だが、逆送・起訴されれば公開の刑事裁判で裁かれる点を重視した。（2020/09/09-18:11）

A Japanese government panel Wednesday proposed lowering legal hurdles to put more 18- and 19-year-old criminal suspects on trial like adults.
   Under the juvenile law, criminal cases involving minors, defined by the law as people younger than 20 years old, should be handled by family courts. But the courts can refer them to prosecutors when they are believed to have committed crimes punishable by death penalty or imprisonment. In addition, minors who are aged 16 and older and suspected of committing murder or intentionally causing injuries resulting in death will be sent to prosecutors by the courts.
   In its draft recommendations on the revision of the law, the subdivision of the Legislative Council, which advises the justice minister, called for prosecuting 18- and 19-year-olds if their suspected offenses are punishable by imprisonment of at least one year. Those crimes include robberies and rape.
   The panel also proposed allowing the names and face photos of suspected offenders aged 18 or 19 to be disclosed if they are indicted, noting that they are to go on criminal trials, which are generally open to the public.
   Among other recommendations is that family courts not conduct hearings or make decisions on the likelihood of juveniles with troubled family backgrounds and bad behavior committing crimes in the future as far as 18- and 19-year-olds are concerned.