Three proposals to amend the Criminal Code regarding the age of criminal responsibility for minors
In preparation for the conference on February 27, I read in the French press that some members of parliament visited several juvenile detention centers yesterday. I am not discussing their political affiliations here, but rather a few details about the visit, the situation at these centers, and the juvenile justice system in France:
– In Nanterre, at the detention center for minors in pretrial detention, only 14 of the 18 rooms are occupied. The minors are staying alone in their rooms;
– As of January 1, 2026, 787 minors were in pretrial detention in France, held in nearly 50 detention facilities;
– elsewhere, at the same facility in Nanterre, overcrowding has reached 212%; a 12-square-meter cell can hold up to five inmates, some of whom sleep on mattresses placed directly on the floor;
– Minors should not be placed in contact with adult inmates, but prison conditions do not allow for this requirement to be met;
– More than 70% of minors released from detention are reoffend at least once within the next 5 years;
– A 2016 study showed that juvenile delinquency is not a marginal phenomenon: 21% of men and 3% of women born in 1986 and 1987 had been convicted at least once for offenses committed between the ages of 10 and 24;
– Abolishing the mitigated criminal liability regime for minors (mitigation being a constitutional requirement) is one of the key issues in next year’s presidential campaign; in 2025, however, the Constitutional Council struck down a bill that sought to bring the liability regime for minors closer to that of adults;
– Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the last time a minor was sentenced to death in France (a sentence that was later commuted to life imprisonment);
– A proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility (or, more precisely, the age at which a person is presumed to be criminally responsible) from 13 to 12 was ultimately not included in the Juvenile Criminal Justice Code, which has been in effect since 2021.
In England and Wales, there is also discussion about raising the age of criminal responsibility (from 10 to 14; the age of 10 was established in 1998 in response to the killing of a 2-year-old child by two other 10-year-olds). The request is being made, among others, by the former President of the Supreme Court. Scotland has already raised the age from 8 to 12 in 2021.
Meanwhile, here in Romania, over the course of two weeks in February, three members of parliament each submitted a bill to lower the age of criminal responsibility. There’s not much point in discussing them in detail, but I shudder to think of the legislative process they’ll have to go through—and thus the money that will be wasted. In short:
The first, which has been widely discussed on social media, is titled “Law Amending Article 113 of the Criminal Code—Lowering the Age of Criminal Responsibility from 14 to 12, Exclusively for the Crime of Murder, Subject to the Requirement of Discernment” and refers—as its name suggests—only to the crime of murder (not to other serious crimes).
The second, less well-known category includes crimes such as murder, aggravated murder, rape, acts of terrorism, or other crimes expressly provided for by law, for which special safety measures (“concrete measures”) would apply if it is proven that the minor possessed functional discernment. These measures are worth reading in full, as they pertain to:
a) the placement of the minor in a specialized center for assessment and therapeutic intervention, with the consent of the legal representative or, in exceptional cases, independently of the legal representative, under judicial supervision;
b) 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑎̆ 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑎̆, accompanied by the obligation to undergo psychological and psychiatric counseling programs;
c) therapeutic and educational measures ordered by the court, in accordance with the relevant 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑙 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑡̦𝑖𝑒𝑖 𝑠̧𝑖 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡̦𝑒 (the principle of legality has gone down the Dâmbovița…).
We also learn that the measures are applied in accordance with the principle of 𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑖 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡̦𝑒, and their application is exceptional.
The proposal also aims to amend Law No. 487/2002 on mental health and the protection of persons with mental disorders, which addresses aspects related to the first measure, albeit with slightly different wording (in this case, oversight is to be exercised by the courts).
The third, most recent provision also applies to the age of 12 and covers the crimes of murder, aggravated murder, assault as defined in paragraph 2 (why not also paragraph 2, subparagraph 1?), bodily injury (but not the version under paragraph 2, subparagraph 1?), assault or bodily injury resulting in death, rape, rape of a minor, robbery, and aggravated robbery.
The sentencing system is intriguing, to say the least: for the crime of assault resulting in death, the mandatory educational measure of placement in a detention center is imposed; for other crimes committed with excessive intent that result in the victim’s death (rape, unlawful detention, robbery, etc.), there is no such provision (in fact, the last two, which would have this consequence, do not even appear to be included among those for which minors under 12 are held accountable).
I also have doubts regarding the statistical data in the Explanatory Memorandum (the exact source is not indicated; only the IGPR is mentioned), given that it states, for example, that “during the same period, 687 criminal offenses were recorded, committed by minors aged 14 to 15 who, 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑖, 𝑛𝑢 𝑟𝑎̆𝑠𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑙, namely 859 criminal offenses committed by minors aged 14 to 15 with limited criminal responsibility based on their capacity for discernment” or that “in 2024, 2,903 cases of 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡̦𝑖𝑢𝑛𝑖 𝑠𝑎̆𝑣𝑎̂𝑟𝑠̦𝑖under the age of 14, an increase of nearly 900 cases in four years.”
As I said before, whether the age of criminal responsibility is 14, 13, or 12 is less important; what matters far more is what concrete steps we take to help these children.
In justifying proposals to lower the age of criminal responsibility, the example of other countries is frequently cited. If we look only at European examples, beyond what I presented above regarding France and England, the Swiss model (age 10) is rather successful not because minors go to prison (detention is not permitted until age 15), but because it allows authorities to “keep an eye on” minors from a very early age. However, even in Switzerland, a juvenile justice counselor noted that “criminological studies have also shown that participation in a criminal trial—which can be very overwhelming, intimidating, and ultimately stigmatizing—can have very negative effects on young people. Once labeled “offenders,” they can very quickly become prisoners of this image and identify with it. Participation in criminal proceedings can thus have criminogenic effects. The same is true of incarceration, which has many drawbacks. This is why prison is often referred to as a “school of crime.” This is why judicial authorities—and society—have an interest in ensuring that the majority of criminal offenses are addressed outside the justice system and in an educational manner.”
Something to think about and discuss, then, when it comes to children.
Resources
A. Articles from France:
1. MPs' visit:https://www.lemonde.fr/…/une-operation-inedite-de…,https://information.tv5monde.com/…/detention-des…
2. Abolishing the mitigation of criminal liability for minors:https://www.lemonde.fr/…/gerald-darmanin-plaide-pour-un…
3. Aligning the legal liability regime for minors with that for adults:https://www.lemonde.fr/…/censure-de-la-loi-attal-le…
4. On repressive rhetoric targeting minors:https://www.lemonde.fr/…/justice-des-mineurs-ce…
5. The proposal to lower the age to 12 (2009):https://www.lemonde.fr/…/rachida-dati-abandonne-l-idee…
6. About CJPM:https://www.lemonde.fr/…/justice-des-mineurs-les…
7. Statistical data:https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/2492181…
8. More information on the juvenile justice system in France: https://www.justice.gouv.fr/…/justice-penale-mineurs
B. England: https://www.theguardian.com/…/top-judges-call-england…
C. Switzerland: https://infoprisons.ch/…/bulletin_20_age_minimum…
D. Romania, legislative proposals:
1. Lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 12 years exclusively for murder:https://cdep.ro/pls/proiecte/upl_pck2015.proiect?cam=2…
2. Special safety measures:https://cdep.ro/pls/proiecte/upl_pck2015.proiect?cam=2…
3. The third proposal:https://www.senat.ro/legis/PDF/2026/26b071FG.PDF…and the Explanatory Memorandum:https://www.senat.ro/legis/PDF/2026/26b071EM.PDF…