Japan: justice chief targets Juvenile Law so 18-year-olds can be charged as adults

Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda has consulted an advisory panel about the possibility of lowering the age of criminal adulthood to 18 from 20, a move critics claim could deprive 18- and 19-year-old offenders of the rehabilitation opportunities guaranteed by the Juvenile Law.

Criminal offenders under 20 receive special treatment under the law, including enrollment in juvenile correctional facilities.

Some lawyers and legal experts think that lowering the age of criminal adulthood would lessen opportunities for rehabilitation and increase recidivism.

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