The Justice Ministry will analyze its data on juvenile crimes to consider whether the Juvenile Law should be revised to lower the minimum age at which youths are held criminally responsible, ministry officials said Thursday.

The ministry has been looking into the matter in response to a recent surge in crimes committed by youths under the age of 16 and to a mounting public debate on whether the nearly 50-year-old Juvenile Law should be reviewed.

The current law allows minors aged 16 and older to be tried in criminal courts. Cases involving 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds suspected of committing crimes are handled by family courts, instead of through criminal proceedings, and those found guilty undergo rehabilitation programs at juvenile correctional facilities.

Heads of the ministry's criminal affairs bureau, correction bureau, rehabilitation bureau, and research and training institute held a meeting Thursday. The ministry will release an interim report on the issue at the end of May, the officials said.

The data the ministry will analyze includes the number of juvenile crime cases prosecutors have received as well as whether and how youths are rehabilitated at juvenile correctional facilities, the officials said. The ministry's decision is expected to affect the ongoing discussions among the ministry, the Supreme Court and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations regarding family court proceedings. The bar federation is opposed to lowering the age of youths tried as criminal suspects.

In the wake of a series of violent crimes by junior high school boys that began last year, Justice Minister Kokichi Shimoinaba has repeatedly said that discussions should be launched to consider lowering the threshold age.