FOR A BETTER TOMORROW: Chen Hui, a police officer, hosts a group counseling for young people receiving community correction in Fuqing, Fujian Province, on May 11, 2012 (WEI PEIQUAN)

For a teenage girl pseudonymed Tian Zi, life took a turn on February 18. On that day, Beijing's Xicheng District People's Procuratorate announced its decision not to prosecute her and wipe her criminal record.

Tian, accused of disorderly conduct, had confessed to picking quarrels and provoking trouble. She earned the pardon because of her good performance during the six-month community correction she received at the Renzhu Social Work Office in Beijing.

On January 1, the second amendment to China's Criminal Procedure Law went into force. Under the law, minor offenders meeting certain criteria can receive community corrections instead of incarceration.

Articles 271 and 272 of the law stipulate that minors who have committed crimes of infringing upon the rights of other persons and the democratic rights of citizens, encroaching on property and disrupting the order of social administration, as well as those who may be sentenced to a prison term of less than one year, can be granted conditional non-prosecution, provided that he or she shows repentance.

Minor offenders granted conditional non-prosecution are given a probation period between six months and one year, during which they are required to obey laws and regulations, report their activities to designated agencies, and accept correction and education arranged by designated agencies.

Upon the end of the probation period, those having not violated terms of probation will be officially pardoned from prosecution.

A new start

Renzhu, officially founded in June 2010, is a non-profit organization commissioned by the Xicheng District People's Procuratorate to administer community correction for minor offenders in the district.

So far, four minor offenders have fulfilled their community correction terms under the agency and received official pardons, An Na, founder of the agency, told Beijing Review.

The agency hires professional social workers to help problematic youth. Meng Xianying, a young girl herself, is a professional social worker designated to help Tian. Meng graduated from the Social Work Department of Shandong Normal University and joined Renzhu one year ago. She has received on-the-job training delivered by prosecutors and scholars and is a certified social worker.

Tian got into trouble with the law when she was 17 years old. On a spring day in 2011, when she and her friend were waiting for someone outside the gate of a vocational high school, several male students passing by leered at her. Tian was offended and scolded the boys. Then a fight broke out between these boys and Tian and her friend. Tian cut a male student's ear with a fruit knife she carried with her. She was taken into custody.

Tian's case was brought to the Xicheng District People's Procuratorate. At that time, conditional non-prosecution was a pilot program in five of Beijing's urban districts, including Xicheng. The pilot program was launched in April 2012 after the second amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law was adopted by the National People's Congress in March 2012.

Tian was granted conditional non-prosecution, and was ordered to receive community correction, including performing at least 10 hours of community service each month for six consecutive months.

In August 2012, Tian reported to Renzhu to start her community service. Actually, Renzhu's social worker Meng got involved with Tian's case earlier than that.

In cases involving juvenile delinquents, it is customary for procuratorates to send social workers to investigate the defendants' personal experience, family background and motives for crime. The Xicheng District People's Procuratorate tasked Meng to write the social investigation report on Tian.

Meng learned that Tian grew up in a broken home. After her parents divorced, they both remarried. Spoiled by her mother, Tian has an impulsive personality. She likes to wear bold dresses such as see-through blouses and visit night clubs with buddies, but Tian's teachers and classmates said that her conduct in school was not bad.