Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler and Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) are currently charged with developing measures to combat rising youth crime. The proposals will be presented at the end of April, and the two will be announced on Thursday evening (see video above).
They have already met with representatives of the police, the federal criminal investigation service, the judiciary, child protection and other experts. “The goal is to protect children, educate young people and punish violent perpetrators,” Karner said. The Ministry of the Interior now points out that crime among minors, i.e. children and young people under the age of 14, has doubled in the past ten years. Among 14- to 17-year-olds it has “increased slightly.” To take this into account, “we need to tighten up some areas.”
Make parents more responsible
Options include lowering the age of criminal responsibility, increasing parental responsibility, and stricter penalties for violent crimes. “(…) The rule of law must be able to maintain itself. If developments occur here that may start at a young age, then there must also be a possibility for the state to sanction on the one hand and to help and support those affected and their parents on the other (. ..)” Edtstadler said. television ban is not enough.
But there are also alternatives to prison. For young people under the age of 14, there must be ‘enforceable consequences.’ At the moment the police can ‘do nothing’ in such a case. The new working group wants to look at the different age limits in Europe and collect reports to make comparisons.
Focus on smartphones
Attention should also be paid to smartphones. The cell phone “is not a legal vacuum,” Karner said. For some children and young people it is a kind of ‘weapon’ with which acts of violence or abuse are recorded and spread. The first interim report should be available by the end of April.
Source: Krone
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