Act No. 4117, approved on December 7, 1933, amends Article 80 of the Revised Penal Code concerning the treatment of minor delinquents. It allows courts to suspend proceedings against minors under eighteen years old accused of crimes, instead committing them to appropriate institutions or responsible individuals for care and education. This commitment is subject to supervision by the Director of Public Welfare or school representatives and can last until the minor reaches adulthood or for a period deemed appropriate by the court. The Act emphasizes rehabilitative measures over punitive actions for young offenders.
December 7, 1933
ACT NO. 4117
AN ACT TO AMEND THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF ARTICLE EIGHTY OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE
SECTION 1. The first paragraph of Article eighty of the Revised Penal Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
"ART. 80. Suspension of sentence of minor delinquents. — Whenever a minor of either sex, under eighteen years of age at the date of the commission of a crime, is accused thereof, the court, after hearing the evidence in the proper proceedings, instead of pronouncing judgment of conviction, shall suspend all further proceedings and shall commit such minor to the custody or care of a public or private, benevolent or charitable institution, established under the law for the care, correction or education of orphaned, homeless, defective, and delinquent children, or to the custody or care of any other responsible person in any other place subject to visitation and supervision by the Director of Public Welfare or any of his agents or representatives, if there be any, or otherwise by the superintendent of public schools or his representatives, subject to such conditions as are prescribed hereinbelow until such minor shall have reached his majority or for such less period as the court may deem proper."
SECTION 2. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: December 7, 1933.