Yancheng City on the coast of our very own Jiangsu Province has been recently the scene for a legal case involving a local tattoo parlour engaged in providing tattoo services to six junior-high schoolers, a case in which the responsibilities of all involved should be well noted.
It is in fact a case which dates back to May, 2022, when one of the six, a junior-high-school student, was on his 2nd day of the new school year. He saw some tattoos on the bodies of his classmates and felt it to be “very cool”.
The boy went on to contact the tattoo parlour involved in the case. That particular establishment later tattooed the lad from his chest to the entire left arm, over six visits to the parlour.
Shanghai-based media outlet, The Paper, reports that the establishment was fully aware the boy was a minor under the age of 14.
Mortified upon finding out about the tattooing, the boy’s mother took her son to a local hospital to have the tattoos removed. She also requested compensation from the tattoo parlour.
Feeling emboldened, the mother then took the matter to the courts, seeking a return of the ¥4,100 originally spent on the tattoos by her son, the ¥24,999 spent by her to remove said tattoos, plus compensation for spiritual anguish.
The parlour, wrongly as it turns out, attempted to argue that the law does not prohibit the tattoo of minors. As such, it was not liable for the tattooing charges, those associated with removing the tattoos or any related to spiritual anguish.
The court in Dongtai City of Yancheng noted the boy to be a person with limited capacity for civil conduct, his parents lacking advance knowledge of his tattooing and their subsequent resolute opposition.
It therefore held that the oral agreement reached between the boy and the tattoo parlour was invalid. The establishment knew the identity and age of their client, but failed to identify and understand the motivation and purpose of the tattoo request. It should therefore bear the brunt of the blame and shoulder the main responsibility.
Nevertheless, the guardian of the boy was also remiss in failing to fully perform their duties as guardian and should therefore also bear some of the blame.
The court arrived at the verdict that the tattoo parlour shall return all expenses and bear compensation for the tattoo-removal procedure to the tune of 60 percent, some ¥14,999, together with ¥3,000 of compensation for spiritual anguish.
Its ruling fell under the “Measures for the Administration of Juvenile Tattoo”, issued in June of last year. It stipulates that no enterprise, organisation or individual shall provide tattoo services to minors and neither shall they coerce, entice or abet minors to engage therein.
Article 17 of the “Law on the Protection of Minors” also stipulates that parents or other guardians shall not commit acts that infringe upon the physical and mental health of minors. Readers of The Nanjinger should therefore note that, even with the consent of parents, tattoo parlours cannot provide tattoo services to minors.
