Juvenile delinquency

Karner: “We need to tighten up in some areas”

From left: Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler are currently working on measures to combat juvenile delinquency.(Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth)

Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler and Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) are currently working on measures to combat rising juvenile delinquency. Proposals will be presented at the end of April, the two announced on Thursday evening (see video above).

They have already met with representatives of the police, the Federal Criminal Police Office, the judiciary, youth welfare and other experts. "The aim is to protect children, educate young people and punish violent offenders," said Karner. The Ministry of the Interior has now pointed out that crime among juveniles, 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 had "risen slightly." To take this into account, "we need to tighten up in some areas."

From the left: Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler(Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth)

Making parents more accountable
Possibilities include lowering the age of criminal responsibility, more responsibility for parents and stricter penalties for violent crimes. "(...) The rule of law must be able to assert itself. If there are developments here that perhaps begin at an early age, then there must also be a way for the state to sanction on the one hand and on the other to help and support those affected and their parents (...)", said Edtstadler. A television ban was not enough.

But there are also alternatives to imprisonment. For under 14-year-olds, there should be "consequences that are enforceable." Currently, the police "can't do anything" in such cases. The new working group wants to look at the different age limits in Europe and collect experience reports in order to draw comparisons.

Focus on smartphones
There will also be a focus on smartphones. Cell phones are "not a legal vacuum", said Karner. For some children and young people, it is a kind of "weapon" with which acts of violence or abuse are recorded and disseminated. The first interim report is due at the end of April.