For Shen Jian, a prisoner at the Beijing Juvenile Prison, being paroled Tuesday might be the best gift he has ever received. It came on International Children's Day.

While the 20-year-old Shen (not his real name) is already too old to be called a child, he was when he was sentenced to five years in prison. He served three years and 10 months of the term handed down for a robbery conviction in 2000 by the Beijing Yanqing County People's Court.

"I had no idea of the law at that time. I did not know I did wrong, you know. I did it only for fun," he recalled Tuesday.

But Shen says he is totally different now. In prison, with the assistance of police officers, he registered for self-study hoping to complete work toward a bachelor's degree in law.

"I am very clear on what the law is and what is against the law. I am sure I will not violate the law any longer," Shen said.

Besides having a good command of legal knowledge, Shen has abided by regulations in prison, and has received high praise from jailers.

"At first, we asked him to correct errors. Later, it was he who wanted to mend his ways," Wei Jiurong, director of the prison affairs department, said Tuesday.

Due to Shen's good behavior, the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court announced that Shen, together with four other young criminals below 18 years of age when they were sentenced to jail would be released.

Another 23 prisoners were given term reductions from two years to four years. Most of them were sentenced for robbery.

According to the Criminal Law, teenagers between 14 and 16 years of age are only held responsible as adults for the most serious crimes, including robbery, rape and murder.

Those between the ages of 16 and 18 shoulder full responsibility if they violate such laws, but courts can consider lighter punishments.

The rate of youths who get out of the Beijing Juvenile Prison and commit new crimes has been kept under 4 percent.

Judges from the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court Tuesday visited three prisoners, who were convicted of an arson incident at a Beijing-based Internet bar in 2002.

Among them, 16-year-old Liu Fan (not his real name) has made great progress in recognizing his error, the judges said.

"I want to apologize to those killed in the fire," Liu said Tuesday. A total of 25 people were killed in the blaze.

Liu attributed his rehabilitation to assistance from instructors and bailiffs in the prison.

(China Daily June 2, 2004)