These are children who should actually go to school, they are thirteen or fourteen years old. However, criminal networks in Sweden some of them have long been used for attacks and even for paid murders. Organized criminal at the same time, he uses the weakness of the Swedish system in a targeted manner, he writes DW.
According to the law there, children under the age of 15 are not criminally responsible: this means that they cannot be convicted as criminals, but fall under the jurisdiction of social services and youth assistance. The principals, who often remain invisible, are counting on this.
In response to the ever-increasing collapse of the state's monopoly on the use of force, Sweden is now taking much more drastic measures.
Parliament has just voted that in the case of serious crimes, minors between the ages of 15 and 17 can be sentenced to regular prison terms, which they will serve in specially adapted departments for minors.
In addition, on June 15, parliament will decide on a government proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 - for crimes such as murder, violence with fatal consequences, serious bombings or other crimes with very high minimum sentences. The effects of this reform will be reviewed after five years.
A failed example of Denmark?
The debate about the age limit for criminal responsibility is not only taking place in Sweden. Denmark, under the conservative government, lowered this limit from 15 to 14 years in 2010 - but after two years that reform was abolished. Scientific analyzes showed that this measure did not have a deterrent effect. On the contrary: affected minors returned to crime more often and did worse in school.
That is why Denmark today serves as a warning to many experts. Earlier criminalization of children does not automatically solve the problem of juvenile violence. In the worst case, contact with the penal system can even contribute to juveniles becoming even more attached to the criminal environment.
Netherlands: Criminally responsible, but not in prison for adults
Compared to the rest of the EU, the Netherlands and Ireland are among the countries with particularly low age limits. In the Netherlands, children can be held criminally liable from the age of twelve.
In Ireland, in principle, the limit of twelve years also applies, while for the most serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape or serious sexual offenses, even children as young as ten and eleven years old can be held criminally responsible.
However, a low threshold does not automatically mean severe prison sentences as provided for by criminal law for adults.
In the Netherlands, the maximum duration of juvenile detention for ages 12 to 15 is one year. For 16- and 17-year-olds, in the case of serious crimes - and with specific exceptions - a maximum of two years in juvenile prison is possible. In addition, the school and pedagogical measures remain in the foreground during the serving of the sentence.
Many states rely on protection and education
If a twelve-year-old child commits a serious crime in Germany or Spain, he is not criminally responsible. This does not mean that the state cannot do anything - juvenile services, family courts or special protection measures can intervene.
Placement in closed institutions is possible under certain conditions, but not as punishment in the sense of criminal law.
In this way, the child is not treated as a criminal, but as a minor in a risky situation. This focus is particularly pronounced in Spanish law: children under the age of 14 do not fall under juvenile criminal law, but under the domain of child protection.
More and more young people behind bars in Italy
There is also an approach that is more focused on the environment in which children live. Italy, with the so-called "Caivano" decree (Decreto Caivano), increased the pressure on parents in cases where the obligations of supervision and education are violated. In severe neglect of compulsory schooling, parents are threatened with criminal consequences.
Nevertheless, the aforementioned decree generally tightened juvenile justice. Critics point out that since the entry into force of this law, the number of young people in juvenile prisons has increased significantly.
Austria puts pressure on the environment
For many EU countries, the 14-year-old limit remains the central reference value. Austria is also sticking to it. Children under the age of 14 are not criminally responsible there. Even so, criminal acts can have consequences. For example, conversations with the police and parents, reprimands, involvement of juvenile services or educational measures are possible.
Thus, in Europe, a low age limit in criminal law does not automatically mean the application of criminal law for adults. Juvenile courts, specialized institutions, educational measures and protection concepts are mostly in the foreground.
What does science say?
The reluctance to punish very young children, which is widespread in Europe, largely coincides with findings from developmental psychology. Children and younger adolescents respond more strongly to immediate reward, peer pressure, and emotional recognition. They gradually develop abilities such as impulse control, long-term assessment of consequences and planned action.
Therefore, classic intimidation with thirteen-year-olds has only a limited effect. The potential later prison sentence competes with the immediate reward: money, recognition, belonging to a group, the feeling that they are finally playing a role. Or vice versa: with the fear of the gang. This is precisely why experts warn that juvenile crime cannot be defeated solely by lower age limits and stricter punishments.
Alternative gang strategies
On top of all that, there is a practical problem: criminal organizations learn quickly. If Sweden lowers the age limit for serious crimes to 13, gangs could try to recruit even younger children. Then the problem would not be solved, but even younger children would be targeted by criminals.
Therefore, the questions that arise are not only from what age a child can be punished, but above all whether the state manages to reach the adult perpetrators.
Experts are skeptical about whether the government's plans will bring the desired success. The Swedish Board of Justice, the Bar Association and several aid organizations have criticized the project. If the parliament does adopt it, thirteen-year-olds could be sentenced to prison terms already at the end of this summer.
Source: DW
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