Prateek Katyal / Unsplash
In the fight against rising gang crime, the Swedish parliament will vote on plans to hold 13-year-olds criminally responsible and, in serious cases, jail them. Other European nations are also lowering age limits.
Children aged 13 and 14 should still be at school. But in Sweden, teenagers are being recruited by criminal networks to carry out attacks and contract killings — even shooting people in broad daylight.
Under Swedish law, children under 15 are not criminally responsible, a fact that is being exploited by organized crime and gang members who often operate out of public view. According to current laws, children cannot be condemned as criminalsbut rather fall under the jurisdiction of social and youth services.
But in its battle against rising gang violence and organized crime, Sweden wants harden your cool toolkit. Parliament has already approved a measure that allows young people aged 15 to 17 convicted of serious crimes to serve prison sentences in specially adapted juvenile units.
Furthermore, the government plans reduce the age of criminal responsibility to 13 years old, on a trial basis, for particularly serious crimes. This would apply to crimes such as murder, murder, large-scale bombings or other crimes with very high minimum sentences.
Parliament will vote on this reform in mid-June, and the result will be re-evaluated after five years.
Denmark: a failed model?
The debate over the age of criminal responsibility is not limited to Sweden.
In 2010, Denmark lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14 under a conservative government. Two years later, the retirement was reversed. Research has shown that reducing age had no deterrent effect. On the contrary, affected young people were more likely to reoffend and perform worse at school.
As a result, Denmark is seen by many experts as a cautionary tale. Criminalize children at a younger age does not automatically solve the problem of youth violence. At worst, contact with the criminal justice system can even lead young people to become further involved in crime.
Netherlands: Criminal procedure from age 12, but no prisons for adults
Compared to other EU countries, the Netherlands and Ireland have some of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility. In the Netherlands, children can be processed from the age of 12.
In Ireland, the general age of criminal responsibility is also 12 years. However, for the most serious crimes—including murder, negligent homicide, rape, and aggravated sexual crimes—the children as young as 10 or 11 may be held criminally liable.
A low age limit does not automatically mean harsh prison sentences similar to those in the adult justice system. In the Netherlands, the maximum sentence of juvenile detention for young people aged 12 to 15 It’s a year old. For 16- and 17-year-olds convicted of serious crimes, the maximum juvenile sentence is generally two years, with only a few exceptions. Education, supervision and rehabilitation measures remain the main focus, even during detention.
In Germany and Spain, a child who commits a serious crime at the age of 12 not legally responsible. This does not mean that the State is powerless. Youth services, family courts and protective orders can intervene. In certain circumstances, placement in a residential institution is possible — but not as a criminal punishment in the legal sense.
The child is treated not as a delinquent, but as a minor at risk. This focus is particularly clear in Spanish legislation. Children under 14 do not fall under juvenile criminal law, but rather under the scope of child protection.
Growing number of teenagers behind bars in Italy
Another approach focuses more on the child’s environment. The so-called Caivano Decree of Italy increases pressure on parents who neglect supervision and school attendance obligations. In cases of serious school absenteeism, parents may even face criminal consequences.
However, Italy is not a completely contrary model to the Swedish approach. The decree also toughened juvenile justice. However, critics note that since its implementation, the number of young people in juvenile detention centers increased significantly.
For many EU countries, the age of 14 remains the central parameter. Austria also maintains this pattern. Children under 14 are not criminally responsible. However, infractions can still have consequences, such as encounters with the police and parents, warnings, involvement of youth support services or educational measures.
A low age of criminal responsibility in Europe does not automatically mean adult-style punishment. Youth courts, specialized facilities, educational interventions and protection measures are generally the priority.
What does science say?
The widespread reluctance in Europe to punish very young people is in line with research in developmental psychology. Children and young teenagers are more receptive to immediate rewardspeer pressure and emotional recognition. Impulse control, weighing long-term consequences, and planning ahead are skills that develop only gradually.
As a result, traditional deterrence has limited effectiveness among 13-year-olds. The prospect of a future prison sentence competes with immediate rewards such as money, recognition, a sense of belonging or having a role to play. In other cases, it may compete with the child’s fear of a gang.
For this reason, experts warn against trying to combat youth crime solely through lower ages of criminal responsibility and harsher penalties.
Gangs quickly rethink their strategies
There is also a practical concern: criminal organizations adapt quickly. If Sweden lowers the age of criminal responsibility for serious crimes to 13, gangs could try to recruit even younger kids. In this case, the problem would not be solved — on the contrary, even younger children could become targets of criminal networks.
The fundamental question is not just at what age a child can be punished. Equally important is knowing whether the State can repress the adults who direct and organize these crimes.
Many experts doubt that the Swedish government’s plans will achieve their intended objective. The Swedish Parliament’s Justice Committee, the Bar Association and several civil society organizations strongly criticized the proposal. If Parliament approves the measure, 13-year-olds could face prison sentences as early as the end of the summer.
