Finland mulls cutting age limit of criminal responsibility

The government has taken an initiative to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 years to 14 years with the view to curb youth crimes in the country.

The Ministry of Justice has launched a study to review various aspects of youth crimes and bringing necessary changes to the law in this regard, said the ministry in a press release on Monday.

The ministry is expected to complete the study by this year.

Currently, children under the age of 15 are not criminally responsible and even their serious criminal activities are addressed through child protection measures.

“Last week, Sweden decided to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years for serious crimes, and I hope that Finland will follow Sweden's example in combating youth crime,” said Minister of Justice Leena Meri in the press release.

According to the existing law, the age of criminal responsibility in Finland remains at 15 years for a long.

If a person under the age of 15 commits a criminal act, they are not sentenced to punishment, but the police file a child protection report.

In addition, a person under the age of 15 is liable for damages for their criminal acts.

Violent acts and other serious crimes committed by children under the age of 15 have been increased significantly.

The Swedish parliament on August 13 voted to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14.

Earlier, the government had wanted to lower the age limit of criminal responsibility to 13 but withdrew the proposal in June following failure to get a majority in parliament.

The Swedish parliament also decided to cut the reduction in prison terms for youths and people under 18 years can now be sentenced to up to 18 years.