The government plans to abandon for now an amendment to the age cap under juvenile law that would lower the age when individuals can be tried as adults from 20 years old to 18, sources have said.

The likely scrapping of the plan came about because members of the Legislative Council — an advisory body to the justice minister — remain divided on the issue, the sources said.

Under current Japanese law, all criminal offenders aged between 14 and 19 years old are sent to family courts in principle, with courses of action involving their cases, such as whether to allow probation or whether to send them to juvenile prison or prosecutors, being decided at a later date. They can face trial similarly as adult offenders if they are indicted after their cases are sent to prosecutors.

In February 2017 the council was asked to study the advisability of lowering the age cap in line with changes in the voting age and the age of attaining adulthood.

The voting age has already been lowered to 18 from 20, while the age of adulthood will be cut, also to 18 from 20, in April 2022.