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Apart from the AfD, no party wants to lower the age of criminal responsibility

The killing of twelve-year-old Luise from Freudenberg is an act that leaves people stunned - and politicians are not unaffected either.

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Apart from the AfD, no party wants to lower the age of criminal responsibility

The killing of twelve-year-old Luise from Freudenberg is an act that leaves people stunned - and politicians are not unaffected either. Since it became known on Tuesday that two 12 and 13-year-old girls from Luise's circle of acquaintances confessed to having killed the girl, there has been a discussion about whether and how such serious acts of violence by children who are not yet criminally responsible can be punished at all. Lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 is also under discussion.

His party has been calling for this measure for years, said the legal policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Thomas Seitz. "A lowering of the age limit is a compelling conclusion from the increasing delinquency of perpetrators under the age of 14 years and is necessary so that criminal law protects the population better against crimes again," he told WELT. Actions like the one currently taking place in Freudenberg are a cruel reminder of this necessity, according to Seitz. "Prevention and pedagogical intervention are important instruments, but so are criminal sanctions."

Apart from the AfD, however, no party wanted to explicitly raise this demand. "The question of whether the age of criminal responsibility must be lowered, at least for serious crimes, requires a thorough examination," warned the legal policy spokesman for the Union faction, Günter Krings (CDU).

In principle, however, it can be assumed that "even twelve-year-olds know that they are not allowed to kill people," Krings continued. “In the case of homicides, one can hardly speak of juvenile misconduct. There is therefore an urgent need to investigate whether there is an increase in serious crimes committed by children and whether the maturation process among 12- and 13-year-olds has accelerated in recent years.”

Two children are said to have killed a twelve-year-old in Freudenberg. The judiciary is reaching its limits because the perpetrators are too young to be punished. Lawyer Prof. Ingo Bott says at WELT: “There is already a reaction from the rule of law. Just no reaction from the criminal law.”

Source: WORLD

In the specific case, it must also be clear that "immediate measures" are necessary with regard to the alleged perpetrators, Krings demanded. “In this respect, the German Civil Code enables the custodial accommodation of delinquent children and young people by court order. The federal states are obliged to provide sufficient closed facilities. ”These possibilities in the field of youth welfare must be used consistently. "I would consider a misunderstood socio-pedagogical restraint to be dangerous here."

Stephan Thomae, parliamentary director of the FDP parliamentary group, made a similar statement. The fact that the girls are not criminally responsible does not mean that there is no reaction to the crime, says Thomae. "Even in the case of children who are under criminal responsibility, the constitutional state has numerous options for intervention with family law and child and youth welfare law, including placement in a closed children's home." However, it is not the criminal judges, but the youth welfare offices who are asked how best to deal with the perpetrators must.

"Horrifying acts like these, in which children who are not criminally responsible are the suspects, are fortunately very rare, but each individual case is of course tragic and shocking," said Helge Limburg, legal policy spokesman for the Greens parliamentary group. However, it is not foreseeable that lowering the age of criminal responsibility will help to prevent such acts.

"We should therefore not repeat the discussion about criminal responsibility, but concentrate on youth welfare and violence prevention. That would be a real contribution to preventing such acts of violence.”

Clara Bünger, the left-wing parliamentary group's legal policy spokesperson, also warned against quick decisions. According to Bünger, taking individual acts of violence as an opportunity to hastily call for increased penalties or a reduction in the age of criminal responsibility is the wrong thing to do. "Because we still know hardly anything about the exact facts of the crime, the motives for the crime or the mental state of the perpetrators."

A twelve-year-old girl from Freudenberg was stabbed to death by children. In an interview with WELT, the psychologist Lisa Irani talks about what it means when children kill. They don't yet know "what finiteness means".

Source: WORLD

However, the exclusion of criminal measures does not mean that they do not have to fear any consequences at all for their acts of violence. "For such cases, educational measures under child and youth welfare law or family law are provided and sufficient. In the case of mental disorders, the court can order placement in a child and adolescent psychiatric facility.”

Child protection advocates also advocate a debate with a sense of proportion. "Children under the age of 14 are developmentally incapable of culpability because they cannot fully understand the extent and the deeds," said Martina Huxoll-von Ahn, deputy managing director of the child protection association. Instead of lowering the age of criminal responsibility, educational measures are indicated.

“When children become so extremely violent, it is bitter and terrible. But we should be careful not to react with reflexes that ultimately affect all children and young people," warned Holger Hofmann, national manager of the German Children's Fund.

The criminal responsibility limit serves to protect children and to give them educational measures. In any case, Germany is well advised with the current regulation in a European comparison. In most countries, the limit is 14 to 15 years, says Hofmann. “It is important that children receive support in good time if they become conspicuous. This also applies to children who are abused by their criminal environment to commit crimes.”

"Kick-off Politics" is WELT's daily news podcast. The most important topic analyzed by WELT editors and the dates of the day. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, among others, or directly via RSS feed.

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