And Sweden wants to reduce the age of criminal responsibility to 13: “We are in an emergency”
The Swedish government announced on Monday that it will present a draft law aimed at reducing the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13 years for serious crimes, opening the way for prison sentences in certain cases, reports AFP, taken by Agerpres. The intention of the Swedish authorities comes simultaneously with the establishment of a working group in Romania to analyze the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 13 years, as a result of the murder in Cenei, where a 13-year-old child was complicit in the murder of a teenager.
Several authorities in Sweden, especially the police, prison officials and prosecutors oppose the project of the Ministry of Justice in Stockholm.
It is not about “a general decrease in the age of criminal responsibility”, assured the Minister of Justice Gunnar Strommer in a press conference. “It's about reducing it for the most serious crimes, such as murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault with an explosive device, gun crime and aggravated rape,” Strommer explained.
Juvenile crime, on the rise
Sweden has been struggling for more than a decade to stem the rise in violence linked to organized crime, mainly due to rival gang settlements and the battle for control of the drug market.
The networks are recruiting an increasing number of minors under the age of 15 to carry out attacks with explosives and firearms, because they do not risk jail time if they are caught.
A government-commissioned inquiry in January 2025 proposed lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 14. But in September the government announced its intention to reduce the regime of criminal liability to 13 years and sent the draft law to 126 authorities and organizations to express their opinion.
The majority of those questioned criticized the proposal or categorically opposed it. The police, for example, considered that lowering the age risks leading to “the involvement of much younger children than at present in criminal networks.” Others pointed out that the penitentiary system is not equipped to house such young criminals and that this risks infringing on the rights of the child.
“We are in an emergency situation. The measures we take must reflect the seriousness of the situation”, argued the Minister of Justice on Monday. This change will be introduced on a temporary basis for a limited duration of five years in a first phase, he said.
The bill will first be sent to the Swedish Legislative Council, which examines bills the government intends to introduce. Strommer hopes the new law will go into effect this summer.
“Mario's Law”: Petition demanding punishment for crimes committed by minors, after Cena's case / One of the suspects is 13 years old and free
A working group in Bucharest
In Romania, the Minister of Justice, Radu Marinescu, announced on Monday that he had created a working group to analyze “the opportunity and necessity of amending the legislation regarding the criminal liability of minors”. The move comes in the context of the crime in Cenei, Timiș county, where a 15-year-old boy, Mario, was killed by other children, 13 and 15 years old. More than 250,000 people have signed a petition calling for criminal liability to be possible from 10 years, not 14, as it is now.
The working group created by Radu Marinescu will send invitations to participate in its work and to convey points of view to several institutions, among them: the General Prosecutor's Office, the Superior Council of the Magistracy, the Institute of Forensic Medicine, the National Union of Romanian Bar Associations, law faculties, associations of psychiatrists and psychologists, criminologists and other specialists, non-governmental organizations, “to identify the best solutions, in order to improve and streamline liability legislation criminal case of minors”.
Three teenagers, two aged 15 and one aged 13, are the main suspects in the case of the murder of Mario, a teenager from Cenei commune, Timiș county. One of the 15-year-olds is accused of killing their friend, together with the 13-year-old. The pair then called the second 15-year-old child to help them hide the body, set it on fire and buried it in a garden.
On Friday, the 15-year-olds were remanded in custody for 30 days, while the 13-year-old was released because he is too young to face criminal charges.
