Against ÖVP demand

Zadic does not want to lower the age of criminal responsibility

Justice Minister Alma Zadic does not want to give in to the ÖVP's demand to lower the age of criminal responsibility.(Bild: APA/Eva Manhart)

Justice Minister Alma Zadić (Greens) distanced herself from her coalition partner ÖVP's proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility in the Bundesrat on Thursday. As in the Justice Committee, she emphasized that Austria would not be in good company among the states with such a change.

In most Western democracies, the corresponding age is similar to that in Austria, where the limit is 14 years. In contrast, the age of criminal responsibility is lower in Brunei, Yemen, Kuwait, Myanmar and Nigeria, where it is seven. In Iran, girls reach the age of criminal responsibility at the age of nine, boys only at 15, said Zadic in response to an urgent question from the FPÖ. 

In Switzerland, the formal age is actually ten years, but fines or prison sentences are only imposed from the age of 15. Before that, there are pedagogical reactions in multi-professional teams, so the children are not locked up.

Minister of Justice: Federal states on the move
"This is also possible in Austria," emphasized the Minister and called on the federal states, which have been responsible for child and youth welfare since 2020 , to take action.She cited Upper Austria and Vienna as exemplary in this regard, where corresponding working groups have already been set up. 

In the Justice Committee, the Minister criticized the fact that it is often the case that young people wait until they are 14 years old and can be handed over to the criminal justice system. If a young person has to go to prison in Austria, they have "already done something wrong" and it is too late to start at this point, said the Justice Minister. She also pointed out that Section 199 of the Criminal Code made parents responsible.

Federal Chancellor and ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer had called for a reduction at the beginning of March after a case of abuse against a twelve-year-old girl with a total of 17 suspects had come to light. Even then, the Greens had warned of "occasion-based legislation".